Great and Mighty God,
We give you praise for this joyous occasion and for the marriage of Lyle and Alexandra. We look to you, asking that you, in the abundance of your favor, would strengthen and uphold them in this sweet union. May it be as unassailable as that union that exists betwixt Christ & his church. May they be one, even as the Godhead itself is one. We pray that you would fill their home with rivers of love and cause joy to daily grace their service to one another. May you grant them many years of happiness together and allow them to enjoy the delight of many children. May it always be that they are faithful to their vows, ready to forgive, patient with each other’s infirmities, tender in speech, and firm in devotion. Above all, may this relationship that you have fashioned be strong in the service of Christ. And Lord, we ask your blessing upon these evening hours. May our celebrations be pleasing in your sight and a testimony to the depths of our gratitude for all your benefits.
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I have had various interactions as of late which have reminded me of what it means to be a slave to sin. It also reminds me of how important Christ is in being freed from sinful patterns. I spoke with one man about his infatuation with a certain girl. She treats him like dirt (I might even make the argument that the dirt gets better treatment). Despite her nagging, her authoritarian brazen-ness, her tongue whippings, et. al. he says he loves her and cannot live without her. Another man stopped me in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. We talked for an hour about what I would call his "moral schizophrenia." He recognized that he was living a particular lifestyle that was not lawful. At one moment he would be distraught at it because he knew it was not right. In the very next breath he would smile and show his great affinity for it. He wanted to be rid of it and keep it all at the same time. While I might sight more instances, both evidence the problem of the sin nature and our enslavement to sin. In his commentary on Judges Dale Ralph Davies reminds us that sin is not just an act. It is a power. It holds a grip upon us and we cannot wiggle free from it. Such is a slave. A slave is one who cannot extract himself from his situation. Though he may have a desire to be free, he cannot attain it of his own power. The apostle Paul also put it in terms of a "war" that waged within him (Rom. 7:15-24). King Solomon gave it more color when he depicted it as a dog that would return to his vomit. Each image describes the same predicament. But what is the remedy? Psychology would tell us that there are certain ways to break "habits" or end addictions. But they do not recognize the real substance of what is going on. There is no humanly way to do this. The problem is not of human will alone. It is a spiritual issue at base. It is a problem of the heart. My brother once made a good observation of drunks and drug addicts that participated in A.A. meetings. He said that they never really got over their addictions. Typically they just replace one sin with another. The drinking stopped, but the smoking began. The drugs were put on the shelf, but they would begin to indulge in another area. Scripture tells us that the answer does not lie within us. It is only through the power of Christ working by the Spirit. Paul, after explaining the battle that raged within him--wanting to do differently, but being unable to do so--finally exclaimed, "What shall save me from the body of death? Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ." In the end, it is only the power of Christ that can sever the person from their sin. Faith is essential here. We pray for release and beg him to act. We seek to resist and do all that is in our power to remain distant from the temptation (godly fellowship, accountability, exposure to the means of grace, staying away from certain places/circumstances that expose us to temptation, etc.). But in the end, we trust Christ. Temptation may overwhelm us at times. Nevertheless, we show faith. We come to Christ and acknowledge him as our only help. As we confess our sin, we confess the Savior again and again. We plead again for his strength and wait for him to bring the victory. The power of sin is tremendous. This is why we must have Christ. His power is the only one that can exceed it and give freedom. Last week we began a sort of mini-series on why we confess our faith. We said that we do it each week because it is a form of oath taking. It is, so to speak, our pledge of allegiance.
This week I want to highlight another significant reason why we confess our faith from week to week. Part of the reason we do it is for pedagogical reasons. That is to say, we recite the creeds and confessions for the purpose of instruction. In his first letter Paul told Timothy to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” And on the basis of this we recognize that one of the main purposes of worship is to edify the believers through education in sound doctrine. That is exactly what happens with our confession of faith. We are taking time to highlight the essential truths of our faith so that we all might know what we believe. We can think of it this way too: The Bible instructs us to “instruct and admonish one another” by “singing songs, hymns and spiritual songs.” When we recite the creed—or as we sing it, as we do from time to time—we are allowing the Holy Spirit to use us in instructing and admonishing one another. Let me give you one example of how this was once driven home to me. A few years back my niece came and spent a few weeks with us over the summer. Up to that point she had had very little, if any, exposure to Christian teaching. But that summer she attended church with us each week. And each week as a part of our service, we recited the Apostle’s Creed. We didn’t think much of it. It was simply something we did week to week. We only came to see the significance of it later when we happened to have a conversation with her about Christmas. You see, she had never even heard the Christmas story. For her, Christmas was about Santa Claus and presents. But we had the opportunity to talk about how it was really about the birth of Jesus. She then surprised us by saying, “You mean that whole ‘born of a virgin’ thing?” We were surprised that she made the connection. We were even more surprised that of all things, she got it from the Creed. That of course, gave rise to a further discussion about the gospel. But right there we had a new perspective of how important the creed was in our services. The Spirit of God was using it to impart a solid understanding of the essential truths of the Christian faith. This is a great good example of why we confess our faith. It builds greater understanding of the faith. It may be for someone who is un-churched or visiting, or perhaps the constant repetition is helping to ingrain it in our young people who might not get much else out of the service. Or maybe it is you. Maybe it is used to simply remind you of some of the great truths of Scripture. Whatever the case may be, the Spirit uses it to impart knowledge and understanding regarding our faith and our God. After dinner it is quite difficult to contain my daughters. Prior to the meal they are usually a bit sluggish. But in no time at all, once they have eaten they are like wild Indians. That is because the meal has replenished their strength. The nutrients that they get from that food has a renewing power that is almost immediate.
As we come to this table today, I wish to remind you that the same ought to occur here. I do not doubt that many of you come here this morning weary and sullen. You have labored long in the week. You have met with many temptations. I don’t doubt that you have exhausted many of your spiritual energies. You have grown weary of pursuing perfection and striving for holiness. I want you to know that this table is for you. Here you find all the nutrients your soul craves. This meal is provided that your strength might be renewed; that you might be energized to live for Christ and engage in the battle against sin. The Lord provides tokens of his grace. He bids you, sinner, to come. Eat of his flesh and drink deeply of his blood. Fill yourself with the goodness of his being and satiate your appetite with the truth of his saving work. For when you do you will find that God will impart new zeal and vigor for his service. Of course, if you are not spiritually hungry, we ask that you not partake. For this meal is not meant for you. If you do not eat this meal in faith, it can be like taking medicine that is not prescribed to you. It can cause more harm than good. But if you need the refreshment of the gospel, we encourage you to enjoy the bounty of this great feast. COMMUNION PRAYER O God of mercy, We do not presume to come to this Table trusting in our own righteousness. It is only by the bounty of our kindness that we may approach it. Indeed, O God, we are not worthy enough to gather the crumbs from beneath the table, let alone fill our pallet with its goodness. But you are filled with grace and ever abounding with steadfast love. So we look to you to grant us to eat of the flesh of your dear son and to drink of his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his sacrifice and our souls washed by his most precious blood. And in doing so we pray that we may ever dwell in him and he in us. Amen. Almighty God,
Today we confess that we have fallen short of the glory of God, and that not just a little. We have run with wicked frenzy off the spiritual cliff and have plummeted into the depths of that foul abyss of sin. We acknowledge that there is nothing good in us, we have all together become worthless. Indeed, our hearts are as empty wells. For our devotion is small at best. We beg your pardon for how careless we are. We give you such little esteem, and rarely acknowledge the bounty of your goodness. O God, few have been the times that we have called out to you and remembered you in prayer. Even more seldom are the times where we turn our thoughts to you, to adore you or delight ourselves in you as we ought. God, forgive us for our irreverent behavior, and do not treat us with similar coldness. We pray that you would not likewise cast us far from your thoughts. Instead we ask that you would renew your saving promise to us, and assure us of your abiding presence. Let not our sins turn you away and do not abandon us to the grave. For this we ask in the Strong Name of our Only Savior. Amen ASSURANCE OF PARDON “I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will remember your sins no more.” Isaiah 43:25 |
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