July 11 - Sunday Morning

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so so uh good morning welcome to this service of worship of second presbyterian church what a delight it is to gather together as the lord's people on the lord's day the best day of the week uh glad you glad you're here thank you for watching us online if you're at home uh watching live stream we're glad to have you as well if you're visiting with us we would love to connect with you you can do that in a formal kind of way on our website our app but we would love to get to know you after the service and greet you more fully we want to give thanks to god for the birth of a covenant child addison elizabeth hughes born this week to kate and tyler hughes we thank god for mother and baby doing well also we would ask you to be in prayer for a vacation bible school happening this week pray for the little ones who will come but also those who who help and volunteer and teach and do all they do also as a quick reminder this morning sunday school will be in the sanctuary due to vvs preparations and all that so sunday school will be here in the sanctuary and dr phillips has one more special announcement it is my sad duty to announce the death and homegoing of one of our long-serving members uh whose name is uh fran reddick many of you do not know her but she was a member of this church for decades she's been quite elderly and has been shut in and friend's been under the care under the loving care i will say of her family for a number of years this very week she passed into the presence of the lord her funeral service will be today at 2 p.m at mackey funeral home you are welcome to attend precious in the sight of the lord is the death of the saints well let us now worship the true the lord in spirit and in truth preparing our hearts for worship [Music] is [Music] [Applause] oh god reigns over the nations god sits on his holy throne the princes of the people gather as the people of the god of abraham for the shields of the earth belong to god let us highly exalt him we begin our worship singing together hymn 244. [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] is [Music] oh [Music] uh [Music] foreign so [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] foreign great god and our loving heavenly father we come to you who truly are the truth and you are the strength in whom we find refuge in the storms of this world and so how wonderful it is to gather in your presence knowing that you love us and lord we do know that you love us because you tell us so in your word and because you sent your own beloved son that he might die on our behalf that we might be redeemed to be your people and that we might worship you and so lord we pray that you would assist us by the ministry of your holy spirit during this service of worship lord would you help us to be mentally and spiritually attentive offering ourselves truly to you for your pleasure and praise and father would you bless us we come with so many needs so many different situations and yet lord we all have the greatest need that we need to know you we need to grow in our faith we need to walk in your ways oh would you bless us for these things we come well father we ask these things boldly because we come in jesus name and we pray therefore in the manner that he taught us saying together 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 death 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 [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes our confession of faith this morning is the apostles creed this is on the inside cover of your trinity hymnals the apostles creed people of god what do you believe i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth and in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy ghost born of the virgin mary suffered under pontius pilate was crucified dead and buried the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of god the father almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead i believe in the holy ghost the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen please be seated we come now to the reading of god's holy law and the first commandment from exodus 20 verse 3 you shall have no other gods before me the first commandment would require of us complete devotion full love and worship of our god to glorify him in everything to enjoy him most of all it would uh forbid us from despising him and his commands from resisting grieving his spirit from even being impatient discontent with his providence and such as that it would call for us complete trust and full love and devotion who among us can say we have done so certainly none of us and so the commandment shows us that we are indeed sinners and it is good for us to confess our sin and seek grace where it's found let's do that together as we pray the prayer printed in our bulletins let's pray together o lord no day of our life has passed that has not proved us guilty in your sight prayers have been uttered from a prayerless heart praise has been often praiseless sound our best services are filthy rags blessed jesus let us find a refuge in your appeasing wounds though our sins rise to heaven your merits soar above them though unrighteousness weighs us down to hell your righteousness exalts us to your throne all things in us call for our rejection all things in you plead our acceptance we appeal from the throne of perfect justice to your throne of boundless grace grant us to hear your assuring voice that by your stripes we are healed that you were bruised for our iniquities that you have been made sin for us that we might be righteous in you that our grievous sins our manifold sins are all forgiven buried in the ocean of your concealing blood keep us always clinging to your cross flood us every moment with descending grace in your merciful name we pray amen here god's assurance of pardon those who truly confess their sin and look unto christ from first peter 2 christ himself bore our sins and his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds you have been healed amen if our ushers would come forward we'll give our tithes and offerings our giving is said to be indeed an act of worship and act of grace so let us give with grace in our hearts and joy for the cause of christ [Music] oh is [Music] me [Music] i [Music] believe [Music] oh [Music] oh me with me [Music] [Applause] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] with me [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] our heavenly father we thank you for all that we have we know that it all comes from you and we give but a portion we pray that you would bless what's been given you'd multiply it for the glory of your great name for the spread of the gospel the building up of the church for the exaltation of jesus christ we pray in jesus name amen please be seated we rejoice this morning to administer the sacrament of baptism to kennedy evans mcdaniel the daughter of bill and rebecca mcdaniel born may 7 2021. now baptism is a sacrament instituted by our lord jesus christ it is a sign of his grace and a seal of his covenant the water in baptism is a sign pointing to the blood of christ which watches away our sins and the renewing grace of the holy spirit we also refer to it as a seal by which we mean that the primary actor today is god god is placing the mark of his covenant on this child this child joins the covenant people of god as a member of the church by the rite of baptism a baptism therefore is a call to parents to teach their children god's word to instruct them in biblical doctrine to pray with and for them and to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the lord so if you're a parent you should be thinking about the baptismal vows i trust that you took when your children were brought to the church it's also a call to children who have been baptized but have not yet made profession of faith in the lord jesus god has put his claim on your life he calls you to believe in the gospel promise and live for him in fact baptism is a call to the whole church to trust in christ for cleansing from sin and then to pray for this little child soon we trust to put her own faith in the lord jesus christ unto salvation now hear the word of the lord the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the lord our god will call god says i will establish my covenant between you and me and your offspring after you i will be your god and the god of your descendants believe on the lord jesus christ and you will be saved you and your household well let me ask bill and rebecca these questions as they bring their child for baptism and it's nice to see their other children do you acknowledge your child's need of the cleansing blood of jesus christ and the renewing grace of the holy spirit do you claim god's covenant promises on your child's behalf and do you look in faith to the lord jesus christ for your child's salvation as you do for your own do you now unreservedly dedicate your child to god and promise in humble reliance upon god's grace that you will endeavor to set a godly example that you will pray with and for your child that you will teach your child the doctrines of our holy religion and that you will strive by all the means of god's appointment to bring your child up in the nurture and admonition of the lord let me ask the congregation of second presbyterian church will you undertake your responsibility of assisting these parents in the christian nurture of this child please say i do what is the name of this child this is kevin kennedy evans mcdaniel and you child of the covenant kennedy evans mcdaniel i baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen let's pray together father in heaven we're reminded at the baptism of covenant children of your faithfulness it wasn't that long ago that kennedy's parents were little children themselves in this church and now they're raising their family in the church and we see in them lord that we can trust you for the things that are dearest to our hearts now they bring their children and are raising them in the church and so we pray for your grace to be upon this family and particularly for this child and father we do pray that we as a church this would be a church where these children would know you that they would receive prayer and encouragement would you strengthen these parents in the keeping of these vows and lord we do look forward to the faith of this child who's baptized today because we know that that faith will lead to eternal life for these things we pray in jesus name amen thank you we'll sing our baptismal hymn to him 257. oh is yes [Music] foreign uh [Music] please be seated let's look to the lord our god in prayer let's pray our heavenly father we thank you for your great grace towards us how we thank you for the lord jesus christ one who you sent forth born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law we bless you that the son of man came to seek and to save the lost that we might have life abundantly that he appeared to destroy the works of the devil or we pray that we might continuously look to him how we recognize our need in this life to keep our eyes fixed upon the lord jesus christ we thank you that you have committed to conforming us to his likeness to the image of your son our savior we pray that you would do so that we would be those who walk in the light as you were in the light those who are full of truth and grace like our savior we pray that you would let us not grow weary lord or faint-hearted in our struggles against sin or standing firm in the faith we pray that you would as the god of endurance and encouragement grant us to live in such a way as we we do with one another with harmony and one accord with jesus christ that we might together with one voice glorify the god and father of our lord jesus christ promote the common salvation we pray lord that you would spread your word abroad in this uh land we pray that those who dwell in darkness would see a great light we pray you would bless your church and strengthen uh we we pray lord for your people and in not only this land but we know that you have people scattered throughout we pray you would uphold them and strengthen them we know there are our brothers and sisters we think of especially places like uh peru and uh alonso ramirez and all the churches there lord the devastating effect of covet and resurgence of those things we pray that you would relieve them and or grant mercy to them and we pray that you would continue to build your church in the midst of all these things in the midst of all these trying circumstances we pray for the holiness of your people lord how we recognize our own need to be made more and more like christ in all the circumstances that we face to be full of the the fruit of the spirit that you would form christ in us lord cause the love of christ to dwell richly within us and the word of god to dwell richly within us and the love of christ to control us constrain us oh lord we pray that you would give us humility as we walk in this world that we would live rightly before you we pray lord for those who are sick among us we know there are many pains and struggles and trials in this life and how sickness is uh won lord we pray that you would give healing to your people there are many who are in hospitals and facing various health complications and problems would you draw near and comfort and give encouragement on their sick bed lord comfort those who are mourning even today and those who grieve in in time of death and loss we pray that you would give comfort and peace lord we pray that you would make the joy of the lord be the strength of your people in time of affliction and great trouble and our lord even in the daily uh routines of life grant your people not to lose heart grow weary and faint-hearted but to stand firm in the faith and would you give strength and wisdom and daily life and uh lord encouragement in the lord the joy of the lord might indeed be all our strength we thank you that you comfort us in all our affliction and you use it even for our good uh would you show us even even today even again and again how great is your steadfast love towards us and that you would comfort us in the midst of many afflictions we thank you that you have all the the trials that come our way lord we pray that that we might continue to keep our eyes fixed on the author and finisher of our faith the lord jesus christ and that we might we might continue to love him whom we've not seen and we pray lord that you would grant us joy in this life and all of the struggles and temptations and trials the lord help us to walk humbly with you our god i pray that you would grow us in the grace and knowledge of jesus and cause your word to dwell richly within us help us to receive with meekness the implanted word would you lead us even home safely to that eternal home and uh that thank you that you are a good shepherd that we have a good shepherd always watching over us and so we pray that you would that you would deliver us from evil we thank you that yours is the kingdom and power and glory forever we pray that you would strengthen us and comfort us in these in these trees help us to honor you and glorify you in all that we think and say and do we pray in jesus name amen please uh please open your bibles through the first chapter of the book of jonah last sunday morning it occurred to me that i would not be able to preach jeremiah this week because it is not possible at least for me to prepare jeremiah's sermon on a week of vacation with my family and jeff went our youth pastor was in my office and i said jeff what book of the bible do you think i should preach from and he said jonah and indeed i think that our passage from jonah will relate very well and will be a commentary on what we've been studying in jeremiah i'm going to read verses 1 to 6 although my sermon is going to focus on verses 5 and 6. jonah chapter 1 beginning at verse 1 and reading to verse 6. listen now to god's holy inerrant and life-giving word now the word of the lord came to jonah the son of amitai saying arise go to nineveh that great city and call out against it for their evil has come up before me but jonah rose to flee to tarshish from the presence of the lord he went down to joppa and he found a ship going to tarshish so he paid the fare and went on board to go with them to tarshish away from the presence of the lord but the lord hurled a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up then the mariners were afraid and each cried out to his god and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them but jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast asleep so the captain came and said to him what do you mean you sleeper arise call out to your god perhaps the god will give a thought to us that we may not perish the grass withers the flowers fall and the word of our god abides forever amen father in heaven we thank you for your message to us today and father we're going to find that we have much in common with the sleeping prophet oh father would you make your call for us to awaken effectual with you through your spirit speak to us through your word we pray in jesus name amen in alexander dumas novel the man in the iron mask prince philip is languishing in prison while his twin brother louis xiv sits on the throne of france and philip is forced to wear an iron mask mask to hide his identity since he would be a threat to the king well the book of jonah likewise tells of a man who lost his identity but it was his own fault in this case jonah the prophet is fleeing from the presence of the lord why because he did not like the mission that god had given him to do and god had told him to go to nineveh and he hated the ninevites he had good reason to by the way and he didn't want to preach to them and he didn't like the mission god gave him and so he boarded a ship for tarshish now tarshish is usually associated with ancient spain a fair distance along the mediterranean it's sometimes used almost proverbially in the in the old testament as that distant place to which you are running from god i think in this case it was literally tarshish and he was literally running from god and he's hiding beneath the decks but whereas dumas is prince philip is discovered by the famous three musketeers it's going to be the sovereign hand of god that discloses the identity of the prophet jonah well fleeing from the lord he paid his fare for the journey to tarship and tarsus and as the boat was pulling away from the shore oh his plan to run from god seemed to be a success how often it seems that way i'm not going to do what god has called me to do i'm not going to keep the vows i've made i'm not going to do what the bible tells me to do and we get off to a good start we think this is going to be a success but jonah had not reckoned on the sovereign persistence of the lord and verse 4 tells us but the lord hurled a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up now it's one thing for passengers on an ancient ship to be frightened by a storm but for the sailors to be terrified that means it is truly a horrible violent storm the winds and the waves are truly deadly and their alarm shows it was a terrific tempest gravely threatening their ship and lies verse 5 says the mariners were afraid and each cried out to his god now these ancient pagan mariners give us an instance of the natural man's tendency to think of god only under extremity only when we find ourselves in desperation or danger it says that there are no atheists in foxholes that's probably true or few but once out of the foxhole most battlefield converts convert back to unbelief and this explains one of the reasons for the trials in our world it's the question christians always get why is the world the way that it is and the answer from jonah is god seeking to gain the attention of rebellious fallen mankind john calvin writes that hardly any religion appears in the world when god leaves us in an undisturbed condition fear then constrains us unwilling to come to god now this tendency points to one of the main ways in which believers in christ differ from the unbelieving world the christian possesses an all-weather faith the true spirit of prayer is not one that is only summoned in the midst of terror or by all means we should certainly pray in those circumstances but rather for a true believer believer prayer daily rises up out of a loving relationship of the god we have come to know and trust now the sailors did more than pray and that's good too we should always pray and work prayer is not a reason not to do our duties not to seek ways of remedying our situation and here's what they did verse five they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them that's a great deal of cargo no doubt and of course the whole purpose of a ship like this was to convey cargo from one point to another and so it's their possessions and their profit that are going overboard now this also speaks to the relationship between our lives and our possessions a difference we often forget the cargo represented undoubtedly long labor fond hopes of future wealth things they could buy and do with it but with their lines at risk they did not hesitate to throw it all overboard now that's true not only for those with great possessions but for those with few yeah henry shakespeare put it well with england's king richard iii when he was about to lose his life a horse a horse my kingdom for a horse we will give up any amount of possessions or money to save our lives now jesus said one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions and often it's tragedies that actually bring this point home i once passed in south florida there had been a family who had been had all their their home was destroyed by a hurricane and they came home to find everything they owned strewn around and they praised god that they had survived they realized in a new way that what mattered was their lives well the actions of the frightened mariners furthermore show us how superficially people think about their problems you see the root problem here was not the cargo or even the violence of the storm we think in these terms we focus on circumstances and there are in their apparent remedies but the problem with this ship bound for tarshish was the sin residing beneath its decks likewise man's problems today arise from guilt and misery incurred by sin and like the mariners in the storm natural man seeks god's help to remove the danger that we see it but seldom did we give any thought to removing sin william banks writes we are casting overboard the wear and the cargo but the storm continues to rage because sin continues to rule in the hearts of those aboard the ship of life nothing weighs a man down so heavily as the burden of sin well this example of the storm-tossed mariners provides us what we might call a primer on natural religion and one thing it shows us is that unregenerate men and women unbelievers they're aware of god and then they are they are unable not to be aware of god i always find it somewhat amusing for someone who professes to be an atheist and spends their entire life's work arguing against god well nature of course shows god clearly and here we have the might of of a great phenomenon it's this tempest upon the sea and it brought testimony to god hurricanes do that today other violent storms now these sailors were probably phoenicians they realized instinctively that there was a personal divine power behind the tempest now this reminds us that nature is designed by god to reveal the existence of god to the people of this world it is for this reason that creation exists calvin called uh the the the cosmos a theater in which the the truth and power and attributes of god are on display here's how paul put it in romans 1 19 what can be known about god is plain to them to the unbelieving world by means of nature then he says because god has made it plain god has designed the natural order to bear testimony to him he makes it effectual and you see it in the universality of prayer in the midst of storms it shows that man knows there is a god knows god is able to help and if properly solicited he is willing to save this is something we learn about natural religion but there is of course a fatal limitation to natural religion and it's shown by these sailors they knew that there was a god that he exists but they didn't know who he was they didn't know him verse 5 says each cried out to his god it's another way of saying they didn't know and so everybody's praying to whatever idea of god they can summon thinking it might help them they're like the ancient athenians of paul's time you know in acts 17 paul was going down to the agora to to present the gospel message and and he sees all the idols and he actually says he had a peroxism he had a heart attack as it were he was so grieved by all the idolatry particularly when he found a statue to an unknown god they're discovering the bases we know we don't know maybe we've missed now maybe it's not one of the 500 other gods we've tried to mention so we'll just we'll just an unknown god paul said well that's what's going on here it's seen in the ship captain's plea to jonah verse 6 arise called to your god perhaps the god will give a thought to us that we may not perish maybe you have a god who can help why don't you give it a try now this shows that the multitude of the false gods that are worshiped and trusted in our world and just think about world religions and the different ideas of god and the kinds of god it shows that man is ignorant in his natural state of the one true god at the heart of idolatry is the problem that while we know god exists there wouldn't be idolatry if we didn't know there was a god but man does not know who god is now a second limitation to natural religion is seen in the approach to prayer just as they do not know who to pray to natural men and women do not know on what terms their prayers may be answered calvin comments they know not whether they will obtain anything by their cries they repeat their prayers but they know not whether they pass off into the air or whether they really come to god now it is these two issues among others that the christian faith is designed to address natural religion shows that there is a god but does not tell us who he is this is why god gave us what is called special revelation theologians refer to general revelation it's nature but then there's special revelation namely the word of god through the prophets and apostles that is recorded in the bible and god has given us of course his ultimate special revelation in and through his son the lord jesus christ and we learn of jesus in the bible we have the holy spirit and press his truth upon our hearts we come to the personal knowledge of god that these mariners lacked and jesus said whoever has seen me has seen the father paul says jesus is the image of the invisible god john 14 9 and colossians 1 15. and so the believer in christ knows the god to whom he or she prays why because salvation is a personal relationship with the heavenly father moreover the creation the christian knows on what terms our prayers may be answered we know that god's son died for our sins that we are reconciled to the father by the jesus christ and so we pray in jesus name knowing that our prayers are received by god as a beloved child some years ago among the examinations of committee of presbytery we had a man coming through who was going to be a chaplain in the navy as an old army guy didn't completely object to the navy's men having uh preachers that they needed but but the secretary of the navy had recently announced that it was forbidden to pray publicly outside of church in the name of jesus i remember asking this man are you willing to lead unbelieving people in prayer apart from the name of the lord jesus and he said to me well i have no choice the navy says i must and actually our presbytery this particular man we did not license him over that because we are deceiving people if we are letting them believe that they may pray to god and be answered if it's not just the formula of the words it's it's through the mediation of the son of god there's the great answer to the question that the suffering world wants to know by what means can we be reconciled to god by what means can we pray and be heard and be helped in the name of jesus christ by the mediation of the son of god jesus said we pray in his name saying our father who art in heaven now it is precisely to impart this knowledge to sinners that god had commissioned the prophet jonah to go to nineveh and to preach to that city and here he is now he's going the opposite direction he's on the ship to tarshish but it is still jonah alone on that ship who can tell them the thing that they desperately need to know but the problem is that while the pagans were praying by what means they could devise to what gods they could think of jonah was sleeping here's the key verse verse five but jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast asleep now that is a remarkable situation given the violence of the story storm it's rather hard to account for how jonah is sleeping soundly beneath dex in this situation now some commentators have said well he's there's so much strain and anxiety of flying from god's will that he was exhausted well deep in the bowels of this ship he had somehow managed to continue his slumber despite this violent storm now however we account for it jonah's sleep is remarkable in what it says about his spiritual condition you see he thinks that he is escaping from god's presence and yet he's unaware of the danger that is upon him one writer says his was the sleep of one who has persuaded himself he is safe when in fact he is in grave danger and how many people are like him they think themselves safe in their rebellion against god in their neglect of god life seems good their affairs seem secure and yet all the while a great storm is approaching by the way this is true of everyone who is outside of christ and of course this is what this world does it gives us a false sense of security but the storm of death and then the final judgment if not earlier is fast approaching now sadly sometimes it can be christians who are most presumptuous in this regard because we know about god's grace we may be besetting or nurturing besetting sins we may be neglecting the very basics of the christian life but we think well god's forgiven me through the blood of jesus and so it's going to be well well now it is true that we are forgiven through the blood of jesus it is true that god loves us in fact the longer i minister the longer i live as a christian the more persuaded i am of the biblical teaching that god loves us and he's kind and he's long suffering and he's he's filled with mercy to us and yet jonah's experience reminds us that god's holiness demands an accounting for sin particularly in the case of unbelievers it's a judicial accounting for sin believers thank the lord our judicial accounting took place on the cross of christ what does god demand from us he demands that we repent of our sins that is what god demands of our people here's we're going to connect with the prophet jeremiah of all the terrible things happening are going to happen in that book the thing that the people of god would not do was repent the writer of hebrews reminds us the lord's discipline is the one he loves he chastises every son whom he receives hebrews 12 6. now the mere fact that we enjoy a feeling at least of spiritual peace does not mean that we are actually at peace with god o palmer robertson writes jonah had plenty of peace he's sleeping like a baby at the very time when he was running from the will of god oh he had great peace and yet the storm was coming in fact at that time the time of god's choosing this tempest struck his ship and so like jonah in his boat many people today christian and non-christian alike think themselves safe from god's jurisdiction simply because they keep away from the church what a mistake it is to say i i god and i you hear this this foolish talk god and i have an understanding i leave him alone he leaves me alone god does not have such an understanding with you he those who the mere distance from god in your life by abstenting from the church does not mean that god is absent in his judgment of you he is able to strike the world as well as the church at sea as well as on shore now furthermore and here i think it's where this passage is particularly going what we have here is a vivid picture of the relationship between the church and the world why were these mariners in danger it was not because of their own sins but it was because of the prophet's sin and in like manner the condition of the world in any time and place can be traced to the condition of the christian church when the church is actively awake when it's exercising its duty of godliness when it's praying where it's bearing testimony to the gospel things tend to go well not only in the church but in the surrounding culture and you may trace the world's advancement in terms of quality of life whether we're talking about science or medicine or literature or political science to the influence of god's people now people talk about being eurocentric and we're glorifying white european culture what made europe europe and its advances was not whiteness or europe-ness it was the presence of the christian church and all the benefits that came with the gospel which we desire to spread to all lands just let me give you one example is found in the great awakening of the 18th century england in both england and america it was the age of revolutions right across the english channel in the late 18th century rose pierre's got the guillotine and there's murder and the breakdown of society and you go well things must have been much better in england no they were not the social conditions in england at the same time were just as bad if not worse as in france well why and secular historians were right why did england not descend into revolution and the best historical reason is the great awakening that the people were converted to the lord jesus christ and their hearts were not set on rebellion and their suffering they turned to god in prayer and they respected authority as well as they could the same with america and we look at our founding fathers even those who were not christians like thomas jefferson those who were christians like like george washington they uniformly say that the the kind of freedoms and liberties designed and enjoyed under our system of government would not be possible without a christian people it's the it's the presence of the church walking in true faith with the lord bearing the fruit of the lord that allows peace and prosperity and liberty so wherever the footprints of christ's disciples have marked the earth they lead to an increase of peace prosperity and well-being with what folly it is today that biblical religion is seen as a threat to the civil order now conversely when the church neglects god and his word especially when it's unfaithful to christ this invariably foreshadows looming clouds of darkness and storm not only for the church but for the culture now an example i like to give is that of the 19th century and 20th century german christian scholarship in the 19th century these were the christian scholars they turned or they assaulted the biblical foundations of the church they became rationalistic and they became nationalistic they in time stripped out the gospel from their church what did they create the very spiritual vacuum into which adolf hitler was able to raise the nazi standard and engulf the war in the world in war and i've often commented you've heard me do it that recent decades give a similar tale in europe and america the results of which are so greatly to be dreaded now my point is and i think the point of this passage is in all these cases the situation can be fundamentally traced to the failures of the christian church the christian church is always the decisive institution the decisions group decisive group of people in any nation or land and like jonah here it begins with a rejection of god's word and then like jonah in his tarshish-bound ship doctrinally wayward christians they seek refuge in the findings of science we're not anti-science but we know that science becomes a a pawn for rebellion to god it's over to be wary of that christians we think refuge in the fashions of secular culture and academia in the ways of the recent trends instead of standing fast on the solid rock of god's word and you see the result is trouble not only for the church but for the world now this of course happens on an individual level obama robertson comments that you will invariably bring trouble to the life of other people as well as to your own life if you are walking contrary to the will of god one of the great reasons in fact one of the blessings as you grow as a christian you you you start serving in the church you become involved in ministry you get married you have children suddenly you realize that your your life is not just about yourself and it's true how many of our families are greatly affected either by the gracious godliness of a parent or by the opposite oh our standing before god our walking in his ways or not greatly affects the people around us robertson notes that when he ministers in prison to those who've been convicted of crime the book of jonah resonates very strongly with with the inmates they know they've been running from god they understand what it means to hurt other people especially those they loved because they went against god's will now compare jonah to the apostle paul in a similar situation acts 27 records the apostle was caught in a storm so violent at sea that the crew tossed the cargo overboard very similar acts 27 13-20 but while jonah neglected his duty to arise to pray to preach to others paul busied himself in those very things he stood before the sailors he told them about god he told them his understanding of what god was doing as a result the mariners were saved they arrived safely at land although their vessel was lost well in jonah's case as well as paul it is the conduct of believers that determines the fate of the entire ship's cruise what a responsibility it is to be a christian today now this illuminates of course the tragedy of our time for jonah in the ship uh like jonah in the ship the church today is largely asleep and we see this in the the shocking neglect of prayer among bible-believing christians the disinterest in the bible even in the churches it's lifestyle teaching it's not bible teaching it's lifestyle preaching the casualness with which so many believers approach the idea of worship particularly gathered worship the lack of concern to bear testimony to the gospel to people around us or we can summarize this condition of sleep with four observations from jonah the first is the sleeping church is unaware of its condition it's the nature of being asleep they think all is well they're only conscious when they are brought to being awake secondly in their dreams sleepers often do things that would never happen in wakeful life people say i had the wildest dream last night and likewise the sleeping church engages in behaviors wholly out of step with godliness and fidelity as seen in the bible thirdly sleepers dislike an alarm i'm probably not the only one here who does not find in fact i i use my phone whatever is the most obnoxious tone on my phone is the one that i use and if i get used to that it's another obnoxious one why it needs to jar me awake and that's why those who often seek to awake the church are disliked or maligned just as the prophets were stoned in ancient israel no sleeper likes the sound of an alarm well fourthly as jonah displays a sleeper neither prays nor preaches the word of god dare i say a lack of prayer it's a thing highlighted here why aren't you praying it's the particular hallmark of a sleeping backslidden church the condition of our church of our christian lives of our generation and you know now's the time when we're the christians who are living other christians have gone before us others are coming after but in this terrible age of the world we are the living christians the the the state of our prayers our commitment to prayer our belief in prayer our our our sacrificial commitment to prayer setting aside other things that we might pray privately and join together with prayer is going to be a hallmark of our condition the lack of prayer is a science shows a sleeping backslidden church see like jonah in the prayer christians are embarrassed sometimes when others approach and ask for prayer when you see this is why it was such a mercy for god to send the storm it was grace that sent the tempest god could have let jonah sleep all the way to tarshish to have success in his rebellion but it was in his grace that god would not let him go and likewise the bible reveals that famines wars economic depressions persecutions not only result from the sleeping state of the church in the world but they are god's remedy to awaken his people this is why when the world is busy throwing cargo overboard or pursuing some other frantic attempt at staving off disaster christians should respond to god's storm by coming before him by you see this in the psalms by searching out their own sin by presenting ourselves before god that we might have his grace to be a more faithful people it is spiritual lethargy that disables our witness and our work it is sin that occasions god's chastening hand you know one of the things in our own time in the american evangelical church and i know that demographically the word evangelical may not be all that meaningful uh some fifty percent of america are evangelicals that cannot be true but even among reasonable numbers of people who regularly go to church who give a biblical witness when you start looking at lifestyle indicators it's something like eight to ten percent are committed to a biblical form of living let us not be complaining if the lord his lord has given us a storm we should be quick to repent we should seek mercy from a gracious god in this way alone can the church be a source not of danger to the world but of salvation well the book of jonah is i encourage you to read it it's filled with irony and one of them is this sight of the pagan ship captain crying out to awaken the prophet of god jonah was there after all because he'd refused god's call to go cry to the pagans of nineveh and now in his rebellion it's an unbelieving voice that calls him awake look at verse six the captain came to him and said what do you mean you sleeper arise and call out to your god perhaps the god will give a thought to us that we may not perish now this was a deserved rebuke to the captain's eyes he presented a remarkable instance of sacrilege that he would be sleeping at a time when everyone should be calling on god and to the capitol this was a shocking spectacle of irreligion even though jonah was in fact a holy prophet of the lord hugh martin notes what can the world take you for however than what you appear to be christians tend to consider worldly views we often think that the world's rebukes arise from malice and they often do but not always sometimes the world is rightly dismayed at the conduct of those who claim the name of the lord when i was teaching at west point doing campus evangelism many years ago one of our leaders a young man we were very close to at the time he i'm old enough now that he's not retired from his military career but he had he had an unbelieving roommate and he they were always giving a hard time about being a goody two-shoes christian and and finally he gave in he went carousing with him and he got drunk and he he embarrassed himself and what he came to me he said was amazing was he came back in the morning and his his unbelieving roommates all held him in contempt in fact they like like the mariner they rebuked him for it and you know he said he goes well you do it all the time who are you they said but you're the one who's a christian it's an interesting even the world looks for the people of god to live like the people of god here's the question is our presence and instigation to peace and well-being are those who take the name of christ living in a manner consistent with our creed the world rightly expects us to do so hugh martin asked do we often do we not often allow many a precious opportunity to pass without taking advantage of it are you careful believers in times of trial adversity poverty anxiety or bereavement to show the world how the grace of god how the faith of christ how fellowship of the holy spirit can suffice to keep your soul in peace and perfect patience this was a deserved rebuke secondly it was a needed rebuke in the midst of the life storms the world needs especially the prayers of god's people the last time i tend to i actually work my workplace has other christians i'm pretty sure there are other christians on our pastoral staff so i don't work and many of you work and mix unbelievers i i don't but i've had the experience and i remember what it was like for them to arrange you know poker parties and i wouldn't get the invitation i wasn't looking for an invitation and i was kind of a social outsider because i was a christian until a child was sick until a disease struck and then they come they come to us wanting us to pray and we should be ready for that and so when there's a job layoff at the workplace and people are afraid christians should take the lead in praying for them when there's war christians should pray about the suffering and about the need for peace when tragedy strikes a family in the neighborhood it should be the christian neighbors who show up at the door to help and to pray the world rightly expects and it needs us it is a needed rebuke they do not know how to pray in many cases they are made aware that they do not know how to pray and we do as a prophet jonah knew the way to gain god's help and so the captain rebukes him what do you mean o sleeper arise and call to your god well the world either does or should give the same rebuke to christians today you know the world we're not saying by the way that the world that christians are responsible for everything good the world does a lot of great things unbelieving people can accomplish amazing acts of science and prosperity and military war plans but the world does not need the church for those things but there are things for which the world urgently needs the proper witness of the church the world does not know god the world does not know the truth of god's ways the world does not know how to find salvation from heaven and for these purposes the church exists in the world more than that and the book of jeremiah shows it the driving purpose behind the great events of the news are in fact god's work in and through the church oh god soften over all things god not jesus said not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the will of his father but the things that we read about the news who's going to win the elections which bill is going to pass which country is rising up which which where's the stock market going they're only the stage drop for the what's really happening in history is god's work in and through and even for the church we must be the church but how great then is the lament when the sleeping church becomes like the world let's tell the world about god let's pray to god on the world's behalf let's teach the world to pray how can i pray my friends the answer is you may pray and be heard through the blood of jesus christ who will reconcile you from your true problem which is the guilt of your sin well let me wrap up this study of jonah the prophet sleeping in the boat and we remember another prophet indeed he was the lord of the prophets and he also was sleeping in a storm-tossed boat the gospels tell us about jesus and the boat with his disciples crossing the sea of galilee oh a tempest game this time it was not to punish them it was to test them it was to teach them there's another reason for the storms of this world and they came they woke jesus they cried this is matthew 8 25 save us lord for we are perishing well jesus slept not in rebellion no no but in the great peace of his sovereign might so unlike jonah who does not seem to either have risen or prayed jesus did mark 4 39 says he awoke he rebuked the wind he said to the sea peace be still and the wind ceased and there was great calm well my friends jesus is the solution to the storms of our lives how many people today undoubtedly many hear many listening to me even now you feel the tempest a storm in your soul is there one who can calm that storm the answer is there is it's the one whom god sent to redeem us from sin to deal with the problem of sin he dealt with it by dying on the cross to pay the penalty we deserve if you desire true peace not the false peace of slumbering while the storm is approaching know the true peace that jesus gives you need to bring your sins to the cross lay them there and be washed in his blood and he will give you peace with god he will give you the peace of god do you want to know what the mariners did not understand do you want to know how to pray so that god will help you and save you the answer is to pray in the name of jesus that means through faith in the shedding of his blood for our sins god has made his son the way of salvation the bible says to all who received him who believed in his name he gave them the right to become the children of god john chapter 1 verse 12 and it says children of god through faith in jesus jesus who is the lord of the storm well we may know that our prayers are heard and answered because we are children of a heavenly father and if we realize this and if we have come to god through faith in christ then how urgent is the need it is so urgent in our times that we would heed the cry of the world and jonah and of the bible to the church let us be the church let us take up the mission of the church given to us by the lord jesus it's called the great commission that we'd be telling people making disciples we'd be bringing them into the church we'd be teaching them to obey all that he is he has commanded we'd be a people of prayer we'd be a living witness of grace you say oh that's so much no it's what god will do in your life if you will come to him and offer yourself truly let us be active in worship in prayer in good works and in witness here's paul's exhortation walk as children of light try to discern what is pleasing to the lord awake o sleeper arise from the dead and christ will shine on you ephesians 5 8 and 14. now father in heaven we thank you for the teaching of your word father help us to realize that what we read in scripture in jeremiah or in jonah it's not some other world some other far away place some other god no it's the world in which we now are the people who are living we now are the israel of god we are the ones who are either walking in your ways or we are not we are the ones who are ordering our lives for worship for priority of going to church being involved in the church of praying together with the people of believing and growing in our knowledge of your word and telling the world about jesus and your grace and your truth father we see the storm about us and we we know we need to ask lord do we need to repent and lord would you give us grace to repent of our worldliness of our spiritual slunder my father let us be useful in our time because we know that through faith in christ the matters are always about eternity awaken us by your grace we pray in jesus name amen well let's conclude our morning worship by singing together hymn 532 [Music] to [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] now to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood to him be glory and dominion both now and forever and may the grace of the lord jesus christ be with all of you and god's people said amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you thank you [Music] okay so [Music] is [Music] so [Music] so [Applause] so um so so so good morning we're going to begin our sunday school time this morning by singing together open up your hymnals please we're going to sing hymn number 404 the church's one foundation 404 let's stand together [Music] foreign [Music] yes [Music] um [Music] so [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] well good morning everyone good to see your faces here on this july hot july sunday morning a delight to be with you here in the sanctuary for our all adult sunday school hour i want to thank as you turn in your bibles now to matthew 16 this will be our primary text for today's sunday school lesson i want to thank all our sunday school teachers who have taught us this summer one of my jobs here at second president church is to be the sunday school superintendent and one of the great responsibilities of that one of the most fun things i get to do is to pick our our book that we use each summer to work through and what a great book uh holiness by j.c rile has been i hope you've enjoyed this breath of fresh air out of the 19th century this beloved anglican bishop who spoke clearly and directly in a way that sounds like it could be 2021 so i want to thank our teachers i also want to thank all of you who prayed for me many of you throughout the years i've battled one malady after another and i want to i want to tell you god has heard your prayers and i certainly have felt them and i'm grateful for you each of you so many of you have said kind words to me texts and notes and i'm very thankful for that thank you for your christian concern and and last but certainly not least i want to welcome my aunt carla ledford who's with us today visiting uh from florida we had a family wedding this week and it's always good to have our family gathered together well if you have your bibles open we're going to look at verses 13 through 20 of matthew 16 a classic text that has become foundational to our understanding of the church and the chapter chapter 13 that we're looking at in holiness this week is the whole idea of christ building uh his church and so we're going to look at this scripture passage where peter confesses christ jesus as the christ is our primary text for the lesson today matthew 16 verses 13 through 20. now when jesus came into the district of caesarea philippi he asked his disciples who do people say that the son of man is and they said some say john the baptist others say elijah others jeremiah or one of the prophets he said to them but who do you say that i am simon peter replied you are the christ the son of the living god and jesus answered him blessed are you simon barjona for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven and i tell you you are peter and on this rock i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it i will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven then he strictly charged them the disciples to tell no one that he was the christ let's pray god in heaven as we study together in your word and attempt to unpack both the mystery and the riches of your revelation through peter uh to the to the world that you are indeed the christ we ask lord that you would re-orient us around your word that you would remind us that the church is not your plan b for this age of man but that from the foundation of the world the church continued the gathering process of engrafting into the family of god your elect and lord we thank you that we can be a part of the church and we thank you for that expression of the church known as the pca and calvary presbyterian second presbyterian church lord bless us as we study and thank you for this time together we ask all this in jesus name a few days ago i was asked to speak to some elders on the administration committee during my yearly staff job review and i opened up my remarks to them with the following i love this church i love our officers i love our members i love our pastors i love our staff i love our people i love the theology that this church proclaims i love the teachers i love the the youth workers i love our worship services i love our connection to the pca i love our history i love our ministry i love our building i even love the genealogy of our church members at staff meeting this past week we were rejoicing in the homegoing of friend reddick it was announced this morning that her funeral will be this afternoon some of our older members will know that she was tommy lasorda's sister-in-law now now our younger staff members immediately said who who is tommy lasorda and i said who is tommy lasorda for many uh decades he was the manager of the los angeles dodgers and i can remember some sunday mornings in the 1970s and 80s where he would come up from atlanta the dodgers would be playing the braves no doubt the braves would have had bad efforts in those days uh and and la sorda would be at the back of the sanctuary and i would walk in and go that's tommy lasorda and i i've enjoyed celebrating even the family members of our church family here the lord has given his church a family in this world to help one another until he comes again that is one of the purposes of the church and we see in our passage a disclosure uh by jesus that is to build for himself he is to build for himself a church jesus is addressing peter peter has made this enormously significant confession namely that jesus is the christ the son of the living god the long promised messiah who would come to save his people from their sins and establish a new realm and a new reign of god on earth jesus said to peter that flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven there's a sense where uh this is a moment for peter uh linda and i are the parents now of two teenagers and we oftentimes are talking about moments that our children seem to understand things in a new way and really seem to get the bigger picture and this is a moment where peter who was the leader of the disciples really seemed to understand not only his calling but really who his master was namely that god had put him in a particular place to proclaim christ as lord well j.c rowell has five main ideas out of our chapter today we're in chapter 13 of holiness he wants us to understand the building the builder the one foundation the the inevitable certain trials that will come and lastly the strong gates that we live around so a building a builder foundation trials and gates this is a picture of the church that ryle paints for us so let's talk about this building this building the first of our five marks of a true church mark dever had has nine marks john knox had three marks of a true church i want to i won't explicate those things today but here j.c reil is giving us five marks of a church and the first mark of a true church is a building and it has to do with the shape of that which the lord intends to do with his people in regard to that what jesus here is saying is that in his redemptive purposes that is in his plan that he made with god the father and and god the holy spirit before the foundations of the world to bring in and elect people and to build a church it was going to revolve around a building he says in verse 18 it's it's very significant in matthew's gospel because it's the first occurrence scholars tell me of the word church in matthew's gospel in fact the word church i am told is somewhat rare uh as a word used in the gospels as a whole jesus is taking a word that actually comes directly from the old testament it's a word that would have appeared strange would not have appeared strange to the disciples who heard it because it's an old testament word and jesus is speaking of a word which has at its basic meaning the idea of a people that are called out in order that they might worship god and that's the whole story of the old testament isn't it god saves his people from egypt into from bondage into uh a new land and and he gives them a new purpose and their first action as a redeemed uh enslaved people was to worship god in the wilderness well god is calling us together out of the world and into fellowship with each other the word synagogue is the same comes from this same root word that jesus ordains is using here uh the the idea that the apostle paul uses when he calls god's people a sheep in a flock or branches in a vine or friends to a bridegroom or stones in a temple or citizens in a new israel jesus is speaking especially here to peter and he says something to peter that has become something of a controversy over the last 2000 years or so he's going to say peter you are peter and on this rock i will build my church let's listen to bishop ryle's own description of this the church of our text is no material building it is no temple made with hands of wood or brick or stone or marble it is a company of men and women it is no particular visible church on earth it is neither the eastern nor the western church it is not the church of england or the church of scotland perhaps some of us might quibble with him about that point above all it certainly is not the church in rome the church of our text is one that makes far less show than any visible church in the eyes of man but it is of far more importance in the eyes of god the church of our text is made up of all true believers in the lord jesus christ and all who really are holy and converted it comprehends all who have repented of sin it compromises all god's elect all who have received god's grace all who have been washed in christ's blood all who have been clothed in christ's righteousness all who have been born again and sanctified by christ's work all such of every name and rank and nation and people in tongue compose the church of our text this is the body of christ the flock the bride the lamb's wife this is the holy catholic and apostolic church of the creeds this is the blessed company of all faithful people rather well said i might stay isn't it interesting when peter comes to write his first epistle that the image that he takes up he speaks about the church as a house or a building or a temple and that you and i by the grace of god are like the living stones chiseled stones stones that that the mason has worked in shape and placed in relationship with other stones to build the house i think for the apostle peter the metaphor of the church actually is of stones so let's go from the building to the builder i'll go back to ryle again to describe our builder the builder of course being christ our text contains not merely a building but a builder the lord jesus christ declares i will build my church the true church of christ is cared for by all three people of the blessed trinity in the plan of salvation revealed in the bible beyond doubt god the father chooses god the son redeems god the holy spirit sanctifies god the father the son the holy spirit the three people and one god cooperate for the salvation of every saved soul therefore it is the church it is the church built by the lord jesus christ he is peculiarly and preeminently the redeemer and savior of the church therefore it is that we find him saying in our text i will build the work of building is my special work if you remember peter has made several bold professions of christ by this point in his association with the lord and his disciples he made a profession after jesus walked on the water he confessed him to be the very son of god there he had already confessed jesus to be the messiah as many of the other disciples also had but jesus has pulled these men aside because he wants them to make a profession of him not in the heat of the moment not when their emotions are boiling after a miracle that he has done he wants them to stop and reflect and say this is what i truly believe this is what i'm convicted of this is the truth i have embraced for my life i'm committed to it beyond all here is what peter doesn't say or is one of my friends on the radio likes to say hear what i'm not saying here here's what peter doesn't say well you know lord you know the pharisees and the sadducees are confused about this and they're the religious leaders of our people how can you expect uneducated fishermen like us to give you an answer to the question of who do men say that i am here's what peter also doesn't say well lord you know i personally believe you're the messiah but there are a lot of people that don't peter also doesn't say you know i i believe you're the messiah but how could i be so narrow and arrogant to assume that my viewpoint is greater than others no peter says without equivocation without hesitation without reservation you are the christ you are god's living son peter makes a universal statement it is both a confession that he's making and a truth he is asserting he says you are the christ and by saying that he's saying jesus you are the messiah you are the one prophesied by all the prophets you are the long-awaited deliverer of all god's people ephesians 2 reads now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of god another metaphor in the new testament for the church having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets jesus christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the lord in whom you are being built together for a dwelling place of god in the spill in the spirit so a building and a builder a foundation now we will look at listen again to rile's words as he describes the foundation of this church the lord jesus christ tells us upon this rock will i build my church this is the foundation upon which the church is built what did christ mean when he spoke at the foundation did he mean peter to whom he was speaking i i think assuredly not i can see no reason if he meant peter why he did not say upon you will i build my church if he had met peter he surely would have said i will build my church on you as plainly as he said to you i will give the keys no it was not the person of the apostle peter but the good confession which the apostle had just made it was not peter the airing unstable man but the mighty truth which the father had revealed to peter it was the truth concerning christ it was the truth concerning christ meteor meteoratorship and christ's messiahship it was the blessed truth that jesus was the promised savior the foundation of the true church was laid at a mighty cost it was necessary that the son of god should take our nature upon him and in that nature suffer and die not for his own sins but for ours it was necessary that in the in the in that nature christ should go to the grave and rise again so in response to this question of what was jesus saying when he said upon you i will build my church uh there is a a consensus protestant understanding that that's not saying peter as the first pope ryle is asserting the idea that it's peter's confession that jesus is going to build his church upon calvin alludes to revelation in his commentaries and he says when we turn to john's vision in revelation and we see the picture of the heavenly jerusalem what is the foundation of the city the names of the apostles and the elders john calvin would say what jesus is saying here is that though you now are a tiny number of men and therefore your confession has little worth at present time yet the time will soon come when it will stand out splendidly and will spread far wider and peter and the apostles roles in the building of the church are on record and so a third view of what is the foundation is that it was actually not just peter but it was peter and the apostles it was their confession it was their response it was their faithfulness and and that is another common understanding which i share of this so foundations now certain trials j.c reil reminds us that the history of the church is one that is full of conflict and war it is constantly assailed by a deadly enemy satan and the prince of this world you know in america right now we live in in relative peace there's relatively little threat to the church there's there's very few obstacles to us coming to church there actually are plenty of incentives built in this is a society that largely still keeps sunday quiet other than a few sports here and there this is a society that by and large still takes sundays off and so there really are very few impediments to christians gathering to worship but if you think about our brothers and sisters in haiti right now it's quite an ordeal uh to honor the lord as the covenant family we've come through something of a of a trial of of the plague the last year and a half with the pandemic where we now can safely gather again together and worship god these trials we are told will be constant between the first coming and the second coming of the lord there always will be opposition against its members sometimes you have to ask yourself is if there isn't opposition to the church right now is the church doing its job uh because the uh as steve lawson a baptist minister likes to say the problem with ministers today is that no one wants to kill them they say such easy things to our ears and they they ignore the obvious sins and and scandals of the world that we live in so trials are certain they will come well lastly we see rile's fifth mark of the true church as strong gates strong gates ryle concludes this uh message with the idea of the security of heaven that is that christians have the benefit of knowing that there are spiritual walls around them ryle says that the gates of hell shall not prevail he who cannot lie has pledged his word that all the powers of hell shall never overthrow his church it shall continue and stand and in spite of every assault it shall never be overcome all other created things perish and pass away but the church which is built on the rock the true church is christ's body not one bone in that mystical body shall ever be broken the true church is christ's bride those whom god has joined in everlasting covenant shall never be put asunder the true church is christ's flock when the lion came and took a lamb out of david's flock david arose and delivered the lamb from the mouth of the lion christ is david's greater son not a single sick lamb in christ's flock shall perish it may be sifted winnowed buffeted tossed to and fro but not when grain shall be lost the tares and the chaff shall be burned the wheat shall be gathered into the barn the true church is christ's army the captain of our salvation loses none of his soldiers his plans are never defeated his supplies never fail his muster role is the same at the end as it was at the beginning what makes our gates strong it should come as no surprise to you that i'm now going to quote to you from the book of church order which is actually fantastic in certain places as a devotional item despite some statements to the contrary in chapter three of our presbyterian church of the book of church order talks about what is the power given to the church what is the energy that allows of the church to bless god's people what are the the the things that the church ought to be doing and we're reminded in that chapter that the power which christ has committed to his church thus in the whole body the rulers and the ruled constituting a spiritual commonwealth have you ever thought of yourself as a member of this church as a member of a spiritual commonwealth we're almost like a small country or a small city set apart for the work of god in this in this place in greenville in the upstate in this time in the world the power given to the church is exclusively spiritual in nature and what on earth does that mean it means that the gifts we've been given are not things of marketing it's not things of personality but it's the gift of the word it's a gift of the means of grace those are the things ultimately that are going to change wicked hearts from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh those are the the gifts that god gives to the church the soul functions of the church chapter 3 section 3 as a kingdom and government distinct from the civil commonwealth are to proclaim to administer and to enforce the law of christ revealed in the scriptures that's what we're supposed to do one to another the power of the church is exclusively spiritual the church with its ordinances officers and courts is the agency which christ has ordained for the edification and government of his people for the propagation of the faith and for the evangelization of the world that's no small thing the church is that's no afterthought that's no one hour a week institution that's something that god has built and installed and empowered to be his instrument of salvation in this world and then one of dr phillips famous favorite sections the exercise of power whether joint or several has the divine sanction when in conformity with the statutes enacted by christ the lawgiver and when put forth by courts or by officers appointed there unto in his word presbyterian churches are governed by elders and elders make decisions by the grace of god when empowered jointly on behalf of the church not severally or individually except in those instances where the word of god is preached the sick are visited and prayers are given over god's people the song that we sang before the the lesson this morning was the church's one foundation it was written as a direct response to a schism that had occurred in the anglican church in south africa this was actually written during the era of j.c rile there was a bishop down there named john william kolenso he was the first bishop of natal who had denounced the entire bible as being fictitious he said it was a myth it was untrue and he was teaching this from the pulpit and as the diocesan bishop he had great authority over the churches there in south africa and some zealous anglican filed a complaint within the church courts of the church of england and that complaint by god's grace was sustained and solan colon so as any good liberal will do uh fought back and challenged and mocked his uh complainers and the matter was raised to the highest courts of the church of england and the author of this hymn samuel stone i believe is his name decided to try to help those folks who were advocating for orthodoxy by writing a hymn and in that hymn you hear the message of a of a faithful churchman who's trying to promote gospel truth in the life of the church but he's also wanting to church teach his people that sometimes life in the church is is hard and that we have to celebrate god and his sovereignty over the good and the bad things in the church well let me just conclude by reading a few words of that hymn to you again perhaps you can hear these words in a new light the church's one foundation is jesus christ her lord she is his new creation by water and the word from heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride with his own blood he bought her and for her life he died listen to verse 3 though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed by schisms rent asunder by heresies distressed yet saints their watch are keeping their cry goes up how long and soon the night of weeping shall be the mourn of song verse 4 got mr stone in so much trouble that for a long time it wasn't allowed to be sung the church shall never perish her dear lord to defend to guide sustain and cherish is with her to the end though there be those that hate her and false sun in her pale against both foe and traitor she ever will prevail well such is true in our day too such is true that god has empowered the church to be his messenger to be his herald let's be faithful heralds let's be faithful members of the spiritual commonwealth of second presbyterian church let's love this church as we love the lord and be faithful to his word let's close now in prayer our gracious heavenly father we do thank you for the gift of the church our family in this world we pray lord that we would love her as we love family and that is as children love their father as families gather together in faithfulness around your word may our songs be joyful because we are redeemed may our love for one another be palpable because you have transformed us lord may our church be strong because we are living stones knit together by the finished work of christ into this building that is the building of the church lord may we long for heaven may we have a heavenly mindset as we talk with one another not caught up in the fashions or the turmoils or the politics or the arguments of this age but may we have heaven in mind when we speak to our brother or sister who does not know thee may we have the humility of christ in mind when we encounter the proud of this world and lord when we encounter the lowly may we in a supernatural way driven by your grace help build them up and remind them that by god's everlasting power they too are a precious part of the body of christ lord thank you again for this people and this time thank you for bishop ryle who wrote us a good book that draws us closer to you and bless us as we continue to worship and rest this day we ask this in jesus name amen thank you so [Applause] so so so so so so so so so so so [Applause] so so so so so so go so so so so so so so live mr [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning welcome to second presbyterian church this service of worship uh what a joy and delight it is to gather with god's people on the lord's day the best day of the week we're glad you're here uh thank you for joining us online for those of you who are watching us via live stream we're glad you're able to do so if you're visiting with us this morning we love having visitors and would certainly love to get to know you afterwards you can connect with us formally uh on our website or our app and give us uh contact information and we'd be we'd love to reach out but we'd love to get to know you before that and talk to you after the service as well thank you for coming and being with us uh we want to give thanks and praise for the birth of our covenant child addison elizabeth hughes born this week to kate and tyler hughes mother and child are doing well we praise god for that we also would like for you to be in prayer for our vacation bible school happening this week pray for those who attend you can still register but pray for those who attend and for volunteers and helpers alike that christ might be exalted well dr phillips has one more special announcement it's my solemn duty to announce the death of a member of our congregation fran reddick was a member of second for many decades most of you may not know her but she was a fixture of our church a joyful kind-hearted servant of the lord who for the last several years has been in the care of her family and has went to the lord this week she died and left this world entered into the glory of heaven her uh funeral is today at 2 p.m if you would like to go at mackie funeral home precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints let's prepare now our hearts and minds for the worship of the true and living god [Music] is [Music] is [Music] god reigns over the nations god sits on his holy throne the princes of the peoples gather as the people of the god of abraham for the shields of the earth belong to god let us highly exalt him well let's answer that call to worship by singing together him 244. [Music] three [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] uh [Music] foreign [Music] yes [Music] uh [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] hey [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] is great god and our loving heavenly father we come to you the the fortress of our eternal safety and it's in the shadow of your love lord that we dwell in peace and it's through the gift of your son that we come to you knowing that you receive us in love father would you help us and enable us to worship you oh how greatly you deserve to be praised and yet we find it so hard to do would you send your holy spirit that we might truly consecrate ourselves to this service of worship engaging inwardly in all the external acts of worship and lord would you be praised and would you bless us would you strengthen our faith which you will awaken us to the truth that there is a god who is sovereign the god of grace that we might praise you well father we ask this in the name of jesus your son and we pray therefore in the manner that he taught us saying together 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 [Music] our confession of faith this morning is the apostles creed this is found on the front inside cover of your trinity psalter hymnal christian what do you believe i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth and in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy ghost born of the virgin mary suffered under pontius pilate was crucified dead and buried the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of god the father almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead i believe in the holy ghost the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen amen you may be seated we come this morning in our reading of god's holy law to the first commandment you shall have no other gods before me this commandment requires us to know and acknowledge god to be the only true god and our god and to worship and glorify him with all the reverence that is due to his holy holy name and likewise it forbids any rival affections anything that would distract from the worship and glory that we offer to the lord who among us can say that we have kept this commandment as we ought always worshiping god as he is worthy to be worshipped never with distracted or divided hearts and minds surely none of us let us therefore seek grace where it may be found praying together the prayer of confession printed in your order of worship o lord no day of our life has passed that has not proved us guilty in your sight prayers have been uttered from a prayerless heart praise has been often praiseless sound our best services are filthy racks blessed jesus let us find refuge in your appeasing wounds though our sins rise to heaven your merits soar above them though unrighteousness weighs us down to hell your righteousness exalts us to your throne all things in us call for our rejection all things in you plead our acceptance we appeal from the throne of perfect justice to your throne of boundless grace grant us to hear your assuring voice that by your stripes we are healed that you were bruised for our iniquities that you have been made sin for us that we might be righteous in you that our grievous sins are manifold sins are all forgiven buried in the ocean of your concealing blood keep us always clinging to your cross flood us at every moment with descending grace in your merciful name we pray amen for all those who have turned from their sin and looked to and trusted in the finished work of our risen savior the lord jesus hear this assurance of pardon from peter's first epistle christ himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds you have been healed amen if the ushers will come forward we'll receive unto the lord our morning tithes and offerings and as we pass the plate this morning the choir will sing who at my door is standing this great hymn of praise to the lord who comes to us who indeed abides with us despite our unworthiness let us worship this one as we give foreign [Music] is oh [Music] oh no [Music] my foreign so is is [Music] oh [Music] lord [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] let's pray father in heaven we do praise you for every good and perfect gift that you give we praise you most of all for the gift of your beloved son the lord jesus and we ask now father that you'd be pleased to receive our tithes and offerings as a means of advancing his kingdom of doing what he called us to do that is spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth would you do that lord we ask in christ's name and for his glory amen you may be seated well let's go once again before the throne of grace where we find help in our time of need let's pray the lord our god how we thank you that you are our refuge and strength a very present help and trouble and we thank you that you have given to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification in our lord jesus christ that you've supplied all our needs according to your riches in glory in christ we thank you for the glorious inheritance that we have in jesus we know that you are a god who is with us and provides for us and knows what we need even before we ask it and knows that we need all things richly supplies us and provides for us we know we can do all things through christ who strengthens us by your grace we thank you that we have in christ redemption and forgiveness of sins that we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in him how you have abundantly provided for us you who are the source of every good thing bestowed in every perfect gift the one who is the father of lights in whom there is no variation or shifting shadows we thank you father for your great care for us and even as you have made us in christ the kingdom of priests to our god and have told us to pray for uh all people and for even those you've placed in authority over us and we would do so lord we pray that you would uh rule in the hearts of our political leaders and those that you've given given authority in high places we pray lord that you would rule and overrule according to your great sovereign purpose and will and for your glory and we pray that you would grant uh repentance and humility and that you would give mercy and that that good would be promoted in our land that righteousness and truth would prevail and that evil would be called evil and punished and we pray lord that you would give wisdom and that you would again rule and direct and we pray that it would be so that we might live peaceful and quiet lives and all godliness and dignity you would help us to live as becomes the followers of christ the children of the living god and in this world we pray for the mission of the church our lord how we pray for the salvation of sinners you know the fields of our labor are white for harvest would you pour out your spirit even as you've done in days of old lord anoint the preaching of your word open a door for the word and we pray that and know that the gospel is the power of god for salvation we pray you would send it forth with great power and glory and bring about uh revival oh lord draw to yourself a multitude that none can number from every nation and tribe and people and tongue we pray for our brothers and sisters in uh in all parts of the world we think especially of peru and in places like peru and even haiti and where there's unrest and difficulty we pray that you would uphold your people there and give them strength and encouragement in the lord lord strengthen their hands they might stand firm in the faith and the grace of god we pray for your people oh lord that you would sanctify sanctify us o lord sanctify us in the truth if your word is truth sanctify us in the midst of this world that we live in that is dark oh lord we pray that you would help us not to touch that which is unclean as it were that we would keep ourselves unstained from this world that you would uh fix our eyes on the lord jesus christ let let us not be seduced oh lord by the lust of the eyes and of the flesh and the boastful pride of life and possessions we pray that you would help us to seek first your kingdom and its righteousness and conform us to the likeness of christ jesus our savior all of the all of the woes and troubles and trials the the crosses and losses that we face in this life although we pray that you would use them for our good we know that you are one who works all things together for good for those who love you and are called according to your purposes we pray that you would work them to that end lord lead us in the truth and lead us in paths of righteousness for your sake deliver us from evil guard us and guide us be our helper and keeper and in times of trial and affliction lord we know that your people face various trials we pray that you would not only grant healing to those who suffer sickness and chronic pains although we pray that you would be a rock and fortress for your people a very present help and a deliverer and a refuge a comforter in time of mourning and time of loss and death i pray for that you would lord build faith and hope and love and draw your people closer to yourself and all the the suffering that that occurs and all the trials i pray you would certainly work them for our good our sanctification and that it would that it would remind us of eternal things all that we have in christ the riches of your glorious grace towards us in him that we would draw ever close to you and ever near the lord help us to walk humbly with you our god that we might be like christ full of grace and truth that you would help us to walk humbly with you our god and all wisdom and dignity and that we would do so with faith we pray that you grow us in the grace and knowledge of jesus cause the word to be received with meekness that implanted word with uh with meekness lord use it for our good for your glory we pray in jesus name amen well let's take our hymnals as we prepare for god's word let's sing together hymn 488 may the mind of christ my savior [Music] [Applause] oh um [Music] oh please foreign [Music] oh please be seated please open your bibles to the first chapter of the prophet jonah we'll study today jonah verses chapter one verses one to six i'm going to focus on verses five to six no i have not jettisoned a mere five chapters in lacking perseverance but i was on vacation with my family and i'm simply not able to prepare a jeremiah sermon on a vacation week jeff went was in my office last sunday when this reality dawned upon me our youth pastor you know and i said jeff you tell me what chapter you want to preach from he said preach from jonah so i think you'll find it relevant and it will it'll intersect with our studies in jeremiah for this one week i'll be preaching in jonah listen now then to god's holy inerrant and life-giving word beginning at verse 1 of jonah 1. now the word of the lord came to jonah the son of amitai saying arise go to nineveh that great city and call out against it for their evil has come up before me but jonah rose to flee to tarshish from the presence of the lord he went down to joppa he found a ship going to tarshish so he paid the fare and went on board to go with him to tarshish away from the presence of the lord but the lord hurled a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up then the mariners were afraid and each cried out to his god and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them but jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lained down and was fast asleep so the captain came and said to him what do you mean you sleeper arise call out to your god perhaps the god will give a thought to us that we may not perish may god be praised through the reading and hearing of his holy word amen father we thank you for the great variety but also the consistency of the message of your world of your word and help us lord to understand ourselves help us to understand what it means to be a christian today as we study jonah chapter one we thank you for the the lord who saves us from every storm the lord jesus we pray in his name amen in alexander dumas novel the man in the iron mask prince philip languishes in prison while his twin brother louis xiv sits upon the throne of france and the reason he has to wear the iron mask the reason he loses his identity is because he is a perceived threat to his royal brother well the book of jonah likewise tells of a man who lost his identity but for a very different reason jonah the prophet was told by the lord to go to nineveh he didn't want to go to an nf and then it was a great and evil city the lord tells him i know it's a great and evil city i want you to go preach there but he hates nineveh he doesn't want to go so he runs in the opposite direction jonah is a believer who is running from god he goes down to joppa the port he boards a ship for tarshish now tarship was tarshish was somewhere around spain it was also something of a byword for running from god maybe that comes from this passage uh he ran from the lord to go far away well prince philip and dumas novel had his identity discovered by the three musketeers but jonah's identity is going to be disclosed by a god who shows his sovereignty but also his mercy while fleeing from the lord he paid his fare for the journey to tarshish and the boat pulls away from shore and i'm sure that jonah was thinking his little plan of running from god was going very well i wonder if you thought that if you're running from god it doesn't seem that he's noticed you you're not walking in his ways you're not reading his words you're not living a godly life we're not praying and it doesn't seem that god has noticed at all but that's the way he must have felt but he failed to reckon as we may fail to reckon on the sovereign persistence of the lord and verse 4 tells us but the lord hurled a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up now we would understand if passengers were frightened aboard a ship this is on the mediterranean sea in the ancient world it's pretty dangerous in general but when the mariners are terrified you know it's a really bad storm and so it was the mariners were afraid verse 5 and each cried out to his god now these sailors provide an instance of man's natural tendency to think about god only under extremity isn't that true the average person thinks about god when they think they need him when when they're desperate there may be no atheists in foxholes but there are a lot of atheists who come out of foxholes and revert to unbelief and this explains one of the great reasons for the trials and troubles of the world someone may say to you if there's a god why are there trials and troubles in the world one answer is because you are rebelling against him because the human race is is running from god and the trials are god's attempt his means of gaining man's attention john calvin observes hardly any religion appears in the world when god leaves us in an undisturbed condition fear constrains us however unwilling to come to god now this is one of the ways in which believers differ or should the left differ from the rest of mankind the true spirit of prayer is not only summoned under duress now by the way under duress go ahead and pray but it's not only then it's a life of communion with god the believer has a relationship with god we've come to know him and trust him so one of the marks of regeneration is that we pray to him daily we pray to him constantly in good times and bad times we thank him when the skies are sunny we call to him when we are afraid we know him and trust him the sailors did more than just pray they also worked we should do the same they took action as well verse five they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them now it's undoubtedly a great deal of cargo which was the whole point of the ship they're throwing their wealth over they're throwing any profit they might have in order to spare their lives and this reminds us that our lives are more important than our possessions you think of england's richard iii at least as shakespeare puts it while he was trying to escape on the battlefield he said a horse a horse my kingdom for a horse all that was to save his kingdom but when his life was on the line he wanted a horse well jesus said one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions here's another lesson that comes to us through the trials of this life how often christians when they go through material tragedies come out of that tragedy more contented because they realize that god's teaching some something i years ago i pastored a church where we got hit with a number of hurricanes and a family in the church lost everything they lost their material possessions and they came home and their photo albums were thrown around the house was destroyed and they gave testimony of how grateful they were to god for their lives well these actions of the frightened mariners furthermore show how superficially most people think about their problems the issue was not the weight of the cargo it wasn't even the violence of the storm that's the way we think about things we think about circumstances and circumstantial remedies the problem with sin there was sin residing inside its decks and so it is that our problems today arise from the guilt and misery incurred by sin and like the mariners in the storm natural man seeks god's help in removing the danger when god wants us to remove the sin william banks writes we are casting overboard the wear and the cargo but the storm continues to rage because sin continues to rule in the hearts of those aboard the ship of life nothing weighs down a man so heavily as the burden of sin as you and i watch the news as we look at the chaos and the danger and the collapse of our cities and our society and we see the remedies we are here to tell people no we must return to the lord we must address the root issue it is sin well the example of these storm cost mariners further provides what we might call a primer on natural religion and it shows us that unregenerate people natural men and women are aware of god and the way they react when the tempest strikes shows this nature is designed by god to reveal god everyone who lives on the planet earth is aware of god because god has has caused the creation to reveal him now these sailors they were probably phoenicians they realized instinctively from this tempest that hit them that there is a divine power behind the tempest and paul says in romans 1 19 what can be known about god is plain to them through the through nature he says because god has made it plain so one thing we know about the world in which we're living is we live in a world in which everyone knows there is a god whatever they say and the universality of prayer when the storm strikes shows that man that man knows not only that god exists but that god is able if properly solicited to help but there's a fatal limit to natural religion we also see this in the mariners the first limitation is that while they know that god exists they do not know him they do not know who he is they do not know what he really is like verse 5 says each cried out to his god that assumes that they are different gods each one's crying out to whatever idea he had of god that might help them it reminds me of acts 5 x 17 when paul is going to witness in athens and he sees all these idols in the city of athens he said he gave him a peroxism he almost had a heart attack he was so grieved about it especially when he saw a shrine to the unknown god you see they were covering their bases in case we missed one they had another one well that's the attitude revealed by the ship captain when he says to jonah verse 6 arise call out to your god perhaps the god will give a thought to us that we might not perish now what he meant was maybe you know of a god that we don't know about why don't you give it a shot well that shows that the multitude of false gods worshiped in the world today and trusted they exist because man does not know god look at you you get a globe and you spin the globe you put your finger down who knows what kind of idea of god is going to be worshiped there mankind has this fatal limitation he does not know god this is at the heart of ollied idolatry that man knows there is a god but does not know who he is now a second limitation is they don't know how to pray they don't know who to pray to but they also don't know on what terms their prayers might be answered calvin comments they know not whether they will obtain anything by their cries they repeat their prayers but they do not know whether they pass off into the air or they really come to god now it is these two great problems that christianity is designed to address the natural revelation we sometimes call it general revelation displays that there is a god but doesn't tell us who he is and so the lord gave us what we call special revelation it's called the bible god gave a particular message to the prophets and the apostles and they wrote it in the bible it's a special revelation by means of the bible you may not only know there is a god but you may know who he is and what he is like and of course you'll see this especially through the revelation of god's son the lord jesus christ jesus said whoever has seen me has seen the father and paul says in colossians 1 15 that jesus is the image of the invisible god my friend if you're hearing me this morning and you say i don't know who god is well if you will look in faith to jesus christ and learn of him from the bible have the holy spirit and press his truth upon your heart you will come to a personal knowledge of god now the believer in christ therefore knows the god to whom he prays why because we have a personal relationship with him but we also know how to pray what a thing it is to know on what terms you may pray to god and have your prayers be answered they would say what is the answer that the answer is jesus christ it is through jesus christ that we might pray to the father and know that we are answered it is jesus who was the mediator between god and man jesus who died on the cross for our sins reconciling us with the father so that the believer who prays in jesus name knows this and by the way this is what makes prayer work that jesus is an effectual mediator that his blood cleanses the guilt of sin that his intercession at the right hand of the father in heaven hand delivers our prayers and that god is our beloved father and he receives in love the prayers of his children some years ago i was on the examinations committee of my presbyter our presbytery and we had a man who was coming through to be a navy chaplain and shortly beforehand the secretary of the navy this was some years ago and uh had decreed that there would be no sectarian prayers outside of the church services and that meant that a chaplain in the navy at the time was it was against the regulations for him to pray in jesus name if he was outside the chapel service so i i asked the chaplain prospective man i said what will you do and he says well i i can't pray in jesus name i said will you lead a non-sectarian prayer you know that the muslims can buy into it and hindus he goes well what can i do the secretary of the navy ordered and we said what you can do is obey jesus christ you can fulfill the reason that you exist to tell people that only jesus is the savior it's not a formula of words of course this is why we say in jesus name what we mean is and lord i'm appealing to you through the mediation of your son who died for my sins my friends if we are not telling the world that we are lying to them we are losing the very function for which we exist in this world we did not ordain him by the way well it is precisely then to impart this knowledge to sinners that god had commissioned jonah to preach in the great and evil city of nineveh now he's not going to nineveh he's on the ship to tarshish but still it is jonah alone who knows and can tell the mariners these things that they so greatly need to know they didn't know who god is he did they didn't know how they might pray to him he knew the problem is that jonah was asleep verse 5 but jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lained down and was fast asleep now that's rather remarkable given the nature of the tempest was so great that this ship was about to sink some people think some commentators say well he was he was stressed he must have been really stressed but whatever is the case deep in the bowels of the ship the prophet is asleep in the midst of the storm well what this is really commenting about is his spiritual state he thinks he's escaped god's presence he's unaware of approaching danger gordon kennedy writes his was a sleep of one who has persuaded himself that he is safe when in fact he is in the gravest danger how many others are like him of course the whole unbelieving world is that way at least when it often the world knows it's imperable it's even worse when it doesn't know it's in barrel and if you're not a christian if you've not come to god through the blood of his son there's a great storm approaching it will come in your death and in the final judgment if not earlier you are not safe but how many christians living contrary to god's word flagrantly unrepentantly are blissfully unaware of the discipline of god the chastisement that must come and it will come from his mercy they think themselves safe and secure in rebellion or neglect of god life seems good their affairs seem acute secure but a storm is targeting them with the accuracy that god targeted jonah with now of course it's true that god is long-suffering that god forgives our sins but jonah's experience reminds us that god is a holy god and there must be a reckoning with sin for unbelievers it's the reckoning of final judgment but for believers it's repentance now here's where we connect to jeremiah what was the issue in the book of jeremiah the thing if only they would do it then their relationship with god would be restored it was repentance oh they needed to repent and so it is with jonah why is this storm coming it's not because god's mean zachus doesn't care about his people it's because he's holy and he has a redemptive purpose it's because god cares more for his eternal state than for his temporal state it's because as hebrews 12 6 the lord disciplines the one he loves he chastises every son he receives now the mere fact then that we are feeling maybe we're experiencing what we think is a state of peace it does not mean that that is our actual situation with god obama robertson writes jonah had plenty of peace he was sleeping like a baby at the very time he was running from the will of god he had great peace and then the storm struck well like jonah and his boat how many people today christians and non-christian think themselves safe from god's jurisdiction simply because they don't go to church avoiding god not thinking about god is not going to make him go away if you're foolish enough as a christian not to be regularly in the house of the lord and if you think that therefore people put it this way i have an understanding with the man upstairs that obnoxious and offensive statement the uh and i leave him alone and he leaves me alone he is not going to leave you alone particularly if you're a believer god has no such understanding with you you are living a false peace he can strike in the world as well as in the church at sea and on shore now jonah furthermore provides a picture then of the relationship between the church and the world why were these mariners in so much danger we go it's because of their sins there's going to be a later danger because of their sins but actually it's because of jonah's sins it's because of the sins of god's servant and in like manner what we see here you see it throughout the scripture is that the condition of the world at any time may be traced to the con condition of the church you look in church history when the church is actively awake when it's exercising its duty of worship of godliness of prayer of gospel witness there tends to be there's this very strong correlation between a godly effective a holy church and blessing upon the surrounding culture you can see this in the world's advancement in quality of life in science medicine literature politics that there is a great influence that blesses many when god's people are faithful people today are talking about being eurocentric and they say it's being white supremacy look what made europe powerful was christianity that's what myths what it was the virtue and the godly and we want everybody to have it there's nothing special about europe there's nothing special about whiteness it's it's the in the province of god the gospel went there and the church flourished there and it began influencing thought and habits particularly in the reformation and the impact was felt throughout the world it is the church that is always the key institution in any place in any time the influence of on the world of the church let me give you one example late 18th century england the 1792's the french revolution robespierre it kind of feels like robespierre today in america and heads are lopping off there's disorder everything's being burned down and you look right across the english channel and there's no revolution in england and you go well conditions must have been worse in france than in england because in france they had this terrible revolution the truth is not it's actually not true conditions were as bad if not worse in england so why and secular historians will note this why was there not a massive upheaval in which tens of thousands died and there was a destructive disorder the answer even historically is the is the great awakening it's the it's the wesleyan revival it's whitefield it's the influence of jonathan edwards in america and it was the gospel that caused the presence of the gospel and a holy christian people and the influence they had and the sovereign blessing of god on the culture for their sake kept one country from going into revolution where the other country absent the gospel fell into chaos secular historians will say that the establishment of the of the of the freedoms that we enjoy in america would not have been possible without the great awakening george a believer like george washington you can read it in his speeches this is not possible without a godly church thomas jefferson that atheist this is not possible without a godly church you see wherever the footprints of christ's disciples have marked the earth they lead to an increase of peace prosperity and well-being but conversely the neglect of god in his word especially the abandonment of fidelity to christ inevitably foreshadows looming clouds of doom and darkness now maybe one of the great examples is the judah of the book of jeremiah if you read the world history of that part of the world the the the palestine and the middle in egypt to babylon and you see these wars and upheavals according to the bible the reason the the babylonian empire arose with nabu palasser and nebuchadnezzar and the collapse of the assyrian empire was because of the church and there's lord's got the lord's multitasking lots of things but the primary reason for all of those great historical events was god's dealings with this covenant people do you realize that is always true you turn on the news today you read your internet news source and great it's all about uh what party is going to win what legislation is it's not unimportant what legislation is being passed what how the stock market is doing what wars are going on and god's sovereign he has purpose and all those things but it's all the stage drop for where the real action is it is always in and through the church god caused his son to reign on high for and to the church that means that the most influential people on the world not because we're great not because we deserve it but it's those people who live and who call upon the name of the lord jesus who bear his name who have the privilege of being the church you know i i love church history and uh you read in past generations or just you know old testament biblical history the book of acts and you say you know what really mattered in those days was their faithfulness to god right their zeal for the gospel that they weren't caught up in the affairs of the world and we look back on them and we can see how that determined the world in which they lived do you realize that you and i and all the christians today we are the only church that there is in the world today those have gone others will come after us but we are the christians now and others are going to look back on us lord willing and they're going to they're not going to ask how much money we made they're not going to ask how great were the buildings were erected lord bless all those things in their place they're going to ask if we were faithful to the lord if we were courageous if we were if we really lived under the lord jesus if we believed and acted upon our faith it's the most important thing in every generation it determines the state of the world and so the situation how often so it is with jonah the situation can be traced to the failures of the christian church why was this boat this ship in peril because of jonah the prophet who was fleeing from the word of the lord and like jonah in his tarshish-bound ship a doctrinally wayward christian church so often seeks refuge in the ship of the world where there's going to be the the claims of science whether it's going to be the fashions of of contemporary wisdom whether it's going to be the trends of a culture or if we will stand fast on the solid rock of god's word now everything we say about jonah everything we say about the church today do you realize it's true of your life that whether or not you walk in faith whether or not and of course you're going to be a sinner until you die i'm not saying that but if we are repentant if we're striving for holiness if we're trusting the lord jesus if we're if we're praying if we're worshiping him as part of the church and we're playing a part in the great missionary empire of the church and we're bearing testimony to him the impact that will have on everyone who knows you certainly on your children certainly on your spouses and your family members it causes us to be careful how we live palmer robertson talks about ministering the book of jonah particularly in penitentiaries and finding how it resonates with and so often convicts those in prison he says they know they're running from god they understand what it means to hurt other people especially those they love by going against god's will if you're doing that if you're cultivating particularly gross heinous sin think about god think about the world around you think about the people you love well compare jonah with the apostle paul in acts 27 he's in a very similar situation paul too is caught in a storm so violent that the mariners were casting the cargo overboard but whereas jonah neglects his duty to arise pray and preach to others paul devoted himself to those very things he he prayed and he stood before the sailors he told them what they needed to know here's who god is here's what god's doing here's what you need to do and they were saved well it is the conduct of believers that determine the fate of the ship well this i think illustrates a tragedy in our time for like jonah in the ship the church today is largely asleep i think particularly in america is a sleep in the world we see this in the neglect of prayer a disinterest in the word of god particularly in the teaching of the church if you want a fast-growing church among american christians today you don't teach the bible you teach lifestyle training and that says much about both the pulpit and the pew there's a lack of concern for witness to the gospel to the surrounding world but we can say four things about the sleeping church we see it in jonah the first is the sleeping church is not aware of its condition sleepers gain consciousness only after they've become awakened secondly in their dreams sleepers often do things that they would never happen never do in wakeful life people say i had the wildest dream last night and likewise the sleeping church engages in behaviors and certainly today in worship practices it would never do if it was awake to the word of god thirdly sleepers dislike an alarm that's why those who seek to awaken the church will be the spies and the lines that's why the prophets were stoned in ancient israel no sleeper likes the sound of an alarm clock i i i have on my phone what is at least for me the most obnoxious sound possible on my my musical selections uh so that i will awaken it's not a pleasant sound and people do not like the voice that awakens them but fourth as jonah shows a sleeper neither praise nor preaches the word of god i want to say to you that maybe the great and jonah shows it to us here a lack of prayer may be the clearest sign of a backslidden sleepy church are we praying if there's ever been a generation that needs to be gathered for prayer meetings that should be willing to make lifestyle sacrifices so that we're praying that needs to cultivate the discipline of prayers james 4 12 4 22 says you have not because you ask not like jonah and the ship christians are rightly embarrassed when we are not at prayer and this is why it was such a mercy for god to send the storm god was awakening jonah it was grace that sent him the storm god could have let him sleep all the way to tarshish he could have let him success successfully end his rebellion but in his mercy he did not let him go well so it is on the great scale today that so many of the travails and persecutions and difficulties that fall upon the church are to awaken a sleeping people of god it's why while the world is busy throwing cargo overboard or or some other scheme of survival the christian church when persecution comes when when troubles in the world strike in a dramatic way we should search out our own sin my friends the greatest need of the church today is reformation that we would repent that we would remember that we would reform that we would start being authentic christians it's true and the pulpit is true and the pew it's true if the church is true in the home the reformation of the church is the greatest need in america in 2021 well the book of jonah is filled with irony and one of them is the sight of this pagan ship captain trying to awaken the sleeping prophet jonah was there after all because he refused god's call to go cry to pagan nineveh so in irony god sends a pagan to awaken him from his slumbering state and look what he says what do you mean you sleeper arise call out to your god perhaps the god will give a thought to us that we may not perish verse six not my friends first that is a deserved rebuke for the captain's eyes it was sacrilegious for anyone not to be praying at a time like that everyone should be calling on aegon on the god whatever he thinks of it it's a shocking spectacle of irreligion even though he was in fact a holy prophet of the lord hugh martin notes what can the here's what here's what martin says but what can the world take you for except what you appear to be you know it's true that jesus says it's because your mind that the world hates you but a lot of the criticism we get from the world is simply given because we deserve it the world is rightly being dismayed at the conduct of those who claim to know god when i was a professor at west point many years ago we had a wonderful young christian who was one of our cadet leaders i'm sorry to say he's now finished his army career he's retired i've gotten old but i mean he told the story one time of how his roommate was always giving him all his roommates were giving me a hard time because he was a christian and he wasn't doing the fun you know how it is he wasn't drinking he wasn't carousing and finally he broke and he said well i'm gonna do it he went out with them and he went out carousing he got inebriated he came back it was very embarrassing what was interesting is in the next morning his normally drunken roommate came to him and said we're ashamed of you and as the story's being told to me on our quarters my friend goes that's totally unfair they do this stuff all the time i do it one time and now they're all they're looking down on me and he went to the room and said why are you ashamed of me and he said because you're supposed to be a christian you know we should be glad when the world says that that's what the world should be saying and sometimes it is what the world says that they want the christians to be christians they see the need of that well how many christians a day deserve a similar rebuke from the world is our presence an instigation to godliness is our presence what did jesus say we're to be salt we're to be preserving it we're to be provocative spiritually we are to be the light in the world it's our presence causing people to see things by the way they're usually not going to come up to you at first and say let me thank you for being a consistent christian and being salt and life and might no they're going to teach you are going to make fun of you this is me they're not thinking it you know i for many years now i've worked in a church and i think most of my i think all of my colleagues are christians and so i haven't recently had the experience of being in a non-christian workplace but i have had it before and i know what it's like to have people you know socially not want you around because if you're there they can't cuss if you're there they can't that's a good thing by the way if you're restrained but they they exclude you but they don't exclude you when their wife gets a cancer diagnosis they don't exclude you when you're they're challenging the car accident they come to you and they say will you pray for me are you having that influence in the world in which you live that do we do we do we allow those precious opportunities to pass by without serving the world it was a deserved rebuke why are you asleep oh jonah but secondly it was a needed rebuke the world needs the prayers of god's people when the workforce is struck by layoffs it's the christians who need to gather the people for prayer when the family when the unbelieving family in the neighborhood has a child in great distress it's the christians who show up at their house or should with help and with prayers in times of war it's christians who ought to be the first to reach out to the suffering and to pray for peace you see they do not know who god is and we do they do not know how to pray and we know we have the answer now as a prophet jonah knew these things and yet he is rebuked what do you mean you sleeper arise and call to your god well the world needs us to be awake you know the world is able to do a lot of great things it's all very impressive they can arrange great riches pleasurable lifestyles excellent plans for wars those for those things the church does not exist the church exists to reveal to to the world who and what god is and what is the way of salvation which comes through his word which comes through his son the world does not know how to find salvation from heaven the world does not know what to do with death the world cannot remove the corrupting presence of sin and it is for these purposes this is what jonah shows us it's what jeremiah shows us this is what the lord wants out of the church in every age and how great is the lament when the sleeping church becomes like the world my friends let's be telling the world about god let's be praying to god on behalf of our neighbors of course our great prayer is that they would be saved let us teach the world how to pray how to be saved how to have a hearing with a god in heaven who loves you it comes through his son the lord jesus well let's not forget another prophet who slept in a boat in fact he was the lord of the prophets matthew chapter 8 tells of jesus getting in the boat with his disciples they went across the sea and a great tomb the lord uses tempest quite a lot now that was not to that that time it was to teach the disciples sometimes the storms strike our lives that we would learn lessons from it and jesus was sleeping not in rebellion against god the way jonah was no he was sleeping in the great peace of his sovereign omnipotence and they called out to him he awoke mark 4 9 439 he awoke and he rebuked the wind and he said to the sea peace be still and the winds and the waves obeyed well you see when you're saying where can i get peace i don't i don't see any escape from the ruin of my sin i don't have i don't see any way in the tumult of the storm of my life to have peace well jesus is the one who can give it to you he is the one who commands the winds and the waves he will still the storm in your heart more than that he will put an end to the tempest of the wrath of god against your sin it was for this that jesus died on the cross he paid the penalty our sins deserved he achieved for us an eternal peace with god my friends if you were in the storm oh would you turn to jesus he if you say well i don't know who god is he is jesus if you say i don't know how to pray pray to and through jesus believe in his blood and he will still the storm of your life do you want to know what the mariners did not understand if you know want to know how to pray so that god will help and save you it's not just the words in the name of jesus although go ahead and say them in your prayers it's jesus himself it's his mediation it's the confession of our sins it's belief in the blood of his cross jesus said i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me but john 1 12 says to all who received him who believed in his name he gave them the right to become the children of god john 1 12 if you're a child of god through faith in jesus my friends god hears your prayers even wayward christians god will hear your prayer through jesus christ if you will pray and you see if we realize this and when we have come to faith in god through jesus christ well then let us hear the world's need let's hear the bible's cry to us the church let's not be asleep in this trying hour now is the only time when we are the ones who are the church in the world let's be worshipping him in spirit and in truth let's be zealous in the work of the gospel building up christ's kingdom through the church for the salvation of souls my friends let's be praying let's be bearing testimony to a world who does not know him here's how paul puts it awake o sleeper wrote ephesians 5 14 awake o sleeper arise from the dead and christ will shine on you father we thank you for your word we thank you for the prophet jonah and the lessons of his life and failures and ministries lord uh now is a time when we hold the prophetic office in the church jonah's dead and gone and you save you you had a great story lord and i pray our folks would read that story and know it but father cause us to awaken father i pray for us individually that we would take stock of our lives what is the influence i'm having on this generation for christ let us ask that question lord but father i pray particularly for those who who they feel their life is all storm and they don't know you even through the preaching of the sermon lord in the hearing of it would you save them would you cause them to call upon your name through jesus christ and would you give peace to the storm we pray this in jesus name amen well let's conclude our morning worship we'll sing together hymn 532. [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] yes foreign [Music] these [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] uh [Music] now may the god of peace you brought again from the dead our lord jesus that great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant equip you for everything good that you may do his will working in us all that is pleasing in his sight through jesus christ to him be glory forever and ever and may the grace of the lord jesus be with all of you and god's people said [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so

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Published: Sun Jul 11 2021