But turn with me to Ephesians chapter four and
verse number one or you can look upon the
screen
and I want you to think with me for a minute
about the high position that we have as
Christians.
Being in Christ. What all we have learned
about in the first three chapters of the
book of Ephesians. God has blessed us with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places
in Christ. Remember we are the recipients of
the unsearchable riches of Christ. We are
one with Christ. We are in union with Christ
by faith and we are one with one another as
believers
and we are citizens of the kingdom of God and
we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. That's
just a
brief summary of all the other details that we
have learned in our study verse by verse of
the
first three chapters of Ephesians and because
of what we've learned about who we are in the
first
three chapters as I told you chapters four
five and six are now going to teach us on the
basis of
that. This is how we are to live. That's why
we get the there for in verse one of chapter
four.
We learn in the New Testament that the apostle
Paul was a beggar and not a street beggar not
a
guy out there begging for money or for food
like you see at our intersections or at the
gas station
every time you go to the gas station. You know
Paul was a beggar in terms of passion.
For example when he stood before a grippa in
Acts 26 there at the very end of verse three
he said this to a grippa. Look at the word. "I
beg you to listen to me patiently."
In 2 Corinthians 5 20 he said, "Therefore we
are ambassadors for Christ as though
God were making an appeal through us. We beg
you on behalf of Christ. Be reconciled to God
."
In Galatians chapter four and verse number 12
he said, "I beg of you brethren become as I am
."
So Paul was so committed to divine truth that
he didn't mind begging people
to respond to the truth. He didn't mind ple
ading and imploring people to act upon what
they heard
from him. Look at our text here in Ephesians 4
1. He says, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the
Lord,
implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the
calling with which you have been called."
And there's a sense in which that is what I do
every Sunday with you. Whether it's an evangel
istic
message proclaiming the truths of the gospel
and calling you to repentance and faith in
Christ Jesus
or whether it's a message today on living the
Christian life. Every Sunday I am pleading
with you
to understand with your mind and act with your
actions upon which that I am preaching to you.
Whether it's to come to Christ on His terms of
repentance of faith or
as we see today for you and I to walk worthy
of the calling with which we have been called.
For every God called pastor, ministry and
preaching are not just intellectual exercises.
If I'm doing this work here that I'm doing
today the way God wants me to be doing it,
then I too am a beggar and a pleader. It isn't
a matter of me just laying out to you some
theological information and then assuming that
you are going to respond to what I say
intellectually
if you determine that it's logical and
reasonable for you to do that. That's not the
transaction
that's happening here between us. What's
happening here between us in the Sunday
morning sermon
is a matter of the heart for both me and for
you. The prophet of God in the Old Testament
was a
passionate man. Jesus as we read in the Gosp
els was a passionate man. How many times do you
read
in the Gospels that phrase about Jesus? He
cried out and you see him weeping over the
city of
Jerusalem and at the grave of his friend Lazar
us. You read those words and you feel them
and you know that he cared for his people.
Paul was the same way in his ministry. The way
that he
dealt with the churches that he started and
ministered to, preaching in the whole whole
package of ministry is not to be approached
with any kind of intellectual indifference.
Look again at Ephesians 4-1. Paul does not say
it is essential that you walk worthy.
He doesn't say that. He says, "I implore you
to walk worthy." He's begging them.
He's begging the church under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit for all time and the reason
for that
is because Paul knows that until you Christian
are on the track of walking worthy, God is not
going
to be glorified by your life. You will not be
fully blessed in your life. The church cannot
fully function the way it's supposed to in the
world if her people are not walking worthy.
That's why he's so passionate about it.
Remember from last time we talked about the
fact that first we must know and then we can
do. First you learn doctrine and then comes
duty,
which is a delight for Christians, not legal
ism. First you learn theology and then comes
right
living and just consider when we talked about
this in Sunday school what has happened to the
influence of the church in America since
doctrine and theology were dumbed down in
favor of shallow
man-centered Christianity light and the
foolishness of the slaying in the spirit and
all of that
garbage that is not Christianity. The proof is
right in front of us every single day.
The church has very little influence in the
culture, if much at all. As I said this
morning,
we've gone from positive influence, neutral,
now negative, where the things do we say,
Christian truth that has been the truth and
will be the truth for all eternity
is now looked at as hate speech. This goes out
on the internet and I say homosexuality is a
sin,
transgenderism is a sin. That's viewed as hate
speech on the internet. One day might be taken
down, might have the opportunity to be on the
internet just for saying things that are true
of the biblical Christian faith and have been
true for thousands of years.
That's why here at Providence we're swimming
against the stream.
We're emphasizing sound doctrine and theology
through verse by verse expository preaching
and
doctrinally sound teaching in our Sunday
school hour. We have to regularly be renewed
in the
spirit of our minds. Remember we can't
function on what we don't know and don't
forget this.
Just having theological knowledge without
acting upon it is useless to you. It's of no
good to you
if it doesn't affect how you live your life,
but at the same time you do have to have it
in order to act and behave the way God wants
you to. If you don't know the Word of God,
you can't protect yourself from sin. David
said your word have I hid in my heart that I
might not
sin against you. You can't do battle with the
world, the flesh, and the devil without the
knowledge of the Word of God. Remember what
Paul said? Let the Word of Christ richly dwell
within you. And so we have to know the Word of
God, but let me tell you there is an element
of
danger in knowing. We have to know God's Word
to get through the rigors of this sanct
ification
process that we're in. We have to know God's
Word to be able to fulfill God's will in our
lives, but there is a danger in knowing
because once we know, we become accountable
for what we know.
In 2 Peter 2, verses 21 to 22, Peter is
talking about an apostate who had the
knowledge of Christ
but went back to their former life, never
having really committed themselves to Christ.
It was in their head, but it was not in their
heart. And commenting on that, look at what
Peter says in verses 21 to 22, "For it would
be better for them not to have known the way
of
righteousness than having known it to turn
away from the holy commandment, handed on to
them.
It happened to them according to the true
proverb, a dog returns to its own vomit
and a sow after washing returns to wallowing
in the mire." And that is serious. He's saying
,
"Better that you never know than that you know
and then you turn away from it." Well,
Brother Philip, if that's true, we better call
all the missionaries home, right?
I mean, it's better that they not know than
they know and reject the truths. Well, that's
true,
but then there's that little thing that Jesus
said about going out into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature, right? A
command, not a suggestion, because better
than knowing and not responding is knowing so
that you can respond, so that the Holy Spirit
can work through the power of the gospel in
your life. And the same is true of us in our
Christian
world. Is it better to not know a whole lot
about the Bible so that you're not quite as
accountable
when you get to the end of your life? No. The
best of all is to know it to the best of your
ability and then to do it. Be heroes of the
Word and doers of the Word. That's the point.
Seek both to know and to do. That's how you
fulfill God's plan for your life, Christian.
And the reality is all other alternatives and
types of living that are out there are misery.
They may have fleeting moments of so-called
happiness, but outside of the Christian life,
it's misery. And if you're a Christian to know
it and not to do it,
is continually knowing the chastening of God
in your life as he scourges every
of his family member that he loves. So learn
the truth and obey the truth. That's what Paul
is
saying. And here in verse 1 of Ephesians 4,
again, Paul is literally begging us. That's
what the word
implore means. Implore, begging to walk worthy
, because this is the standard. Remember Coloss
ians
3 verses 1 through 3. "Therefore, if, if you
have been raised up with Christ, what are you
to do?
Keep seeking the things above where Christ is.
Seated at the right hand of God. Set your
mind on the things above, not on the things
that are on the earth, for you have died,
and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
What a passage. We went through it a while
back.
So, question. Can we do this? Can we walk
worthy as Paul is begging us to do? Well,
I hope by now in our study of Ephesians you
already know the answer to that question,
because Paul has been teaching us that we have
all the resources that we need in order to do
that.
We have this high and exalted position as
being in Christ that we've been learning all
about in
the first three chapters. But Jesus said, "
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am
meek,
lowly of heart." And don't forget, especially
you men, meek doesn't mean wimpy. Meek means
power
and strength under control is what meek means.
And we're fixing to see that our high position
,
as Christians, demands a lowly walk. Look next
in Ephesians 4-2. How do we walk, Paul,
with all humility and gentleness, with
patience, showing tolerance for one another in
love,
being diligent to preserve the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace? Yes, we are
exalted as a people, as Christians, blessed
with all the spiritual blessings in the
heavenly
places in Christ. Yes, we have an eternal
inheritance. Yes, we have the Holy Spirit in
dwelling us, the fullness of God Himself, as
Paul says in Ephesians 3. We own the
unsurpassable riches of Christ. We are joint
heirs with Christ. But all of that means that
while we
are here during our sojourn on this earth, and
it's a short one, according to Jesus,
according
to Paul here, we ought to walk very low. So go
back to verse 1 and let's look at this word
walk.
Y'all are not in a hurry to get through Ephes
ians, are you? Okay, I'm just checking because
you're
not going to get through it in a hurry. The
word for walk here means simple, daily conduct
.
Walk is a very important New Testament word.
This is the whole theme of the last three
chapters of
Ephesians, the first 16 verses. Here in
chapter 4, we're talking about walking in
unity. In Ephesians
4 verse 17, look what it says, that you walk
no longer as the Gentiles also walk in the fut
ility
of their mind. Chapter 5 and 6 here in Ephes
ians describes a love walk, a light walk, a
wise walk,
a spirit walk, and finally a warfare walk. The
idea is a lifestyle, daily conduct,
also that your lifestyle be worthy of the voc
ation to which you have been called.
And again, can we do it? Well, go back again
and read the ignition switch. Ephesians 3, 14
to 20.
Commit and yield yourself to the Holy Spirit
and be strengthened by His might in the inner
man.
Go back and read that section again. We have
all the resources that we need to accomplish
what Paul
is begging us to do. The power is already
there. Remember Ephesians 3, 20, now to him
who is able
to do far more abundantly above all that we
ask or think. Look at that phrase, according
to the
power that works within us. That's every
Christian. Now go back to 4-1.
Paul says, "Therefore I the prisoner of the
Lord." It's funny, Paul started out chapter 3
the same
way. Look at 3-1. "I, Paul, the prisoner of
Jesus Christ." Well, why does he keep
referring to himself
like this? Well, think of this. Down here in
Responsibility Land at that time, he was
literally
a prisoner in Rome, but he never saw it that
way. And this is a great truth for us to
remember
and a great pattern for all of us to follow.
The apostle Paul had the ability to see
literally
everything in his life in the light of eternal
perspective, in the light of how it affected
Christ, not him. In other words, Christian.
There is only one way to live, and that is
interpreting everything with reference to the
divine, everything that happens in your life.
That'll really help you if things go south
next week in the presidential election.
Now, listen. You have to work at this. I have
to work at this. But listen to me.
If you will condition your thinking to seeing
things and interpreting all the circumstances
of life from the small things to the big
things in relation to God and the eternal
perspective,
you will discover that that is the best way to
live. Above all other ways. This is
interpreting
everything, seeing everything that happens to
you in your walk as a Christian on this earth,
everything as the providence of God. Whatever
you encounter, your first thought is
immediately
vertical. Whatever happens, I don't care what
it is. The first thing you think, what does
this
mean, God? What does this providential
circumstance mean? How does it affect you, God
, not me?
And again, man, you have to be in the word
regularly to keep this up. You can't do it
without it.
Because all of us have trouble in our lives.
All of us have varying degrees and kinds of
troubles,
and all of us have varying degrees of
intensity of troubles in our lives. Now,
you can live like this. Something bad happens
to you. And you can, even as a Christian,
you can be Eor from Winnie the Pooh. Oh, woe
is me. Oh, poor me. Why do all these problems
happen
to me as if nobody else has the troubles that
you do? Or as if you have the worst troubles
in human
history? Believe me, whatever troubles you are
going through right at this moment, no matter
how
bad they are, I can give you an example of
somebody who has it 10 times worse than you in
less than
two seconds if you ask me at the church. Try
me and see. Try me. We have troubles in
relationships,
troubles in marriage, troubles in the family,
in the workplace, in the church, money
troubles.
If you are thinking all the time on the
earthly level,
you're just always going to be in Eor mode. Oh
, woe is me. Why is this happening to me?
But if you have the word of Jesus Christ
dwelling in you richly and you are striving to
live in the
wisdom of the Proverbs and you are immediately
thinking, Lord, what are you doing here in
this?
Let me get on my knees and pray. What are you
teaching me here in this? How am I to respond
to this in a way that glorifies you? Not easy.
I'm not telling you that it's easy.
We all, starting with me, wax and wane in
living this way. But if you are a Christian,
you know that what I am saying is absolutely
the best way for you to live. You know it.
The average, unregenerate person only thinks
in a worldly way. That's the only way they can
think.
They only focus on their money and their work
and how they're going to make more money
and their leisure and their entertainment.
Those are the things that are prominent in
their life.
In what I call the small little box of the
things of this world. That's all they can
ever think about. Wake up, eat, go to work,
come home, eat, flip on the TV, be entertained
,
go to sleep, wake up, eat, rinse, repeat,
rinse, repeat. And when trouble comes,
dumpster fire, dysfunctional reactions every
single time.
I see average working class American. The
wealthy, yeah, they have more
creature comforts, but they have just as many
problems. In fact, I would argue they have
bigger
problems than what we do in the working class.
Just look at the lives of some of the rich and
famous. Even Christians get off the path of
the King's Highway, as it's referred to in the
Pilgrim's Progress, which if you haven't read,
I highly commend to your reading.
Even Christians live this way to varying
degrees,
but I'm pleading with you. If you focus in and
strive to live daily,
one day at a time, because that's all you get,
and that's the only pace you can live at, is
one day at a time, walking in the Spirit with
the Word of Christ richly dwelling in you,
responding to every event in your life with
eternal perspective. Again, I'm going to tell
you again, that is the best way to live. Now,
I can tell you for myself, sometimes I get
there.
A lot of times I don't, but I'm always
striving for it. I'm always working at it.
When I fall off
the horse, I get back up on the horse, ask
forgiveness, and keep riding. Reminding
ourselves
of this on a regular basis is critical. Pre
aching this on a regular basis is critical.
Living our
lives on the divine grid, if you will. It
doesn't matter if an EMP happens if you're
living on the
divine grid. That means if all the lights go
out. You know it's the best way to live.
Really, whether you're talking about a
believer having spiritual maturity,
this is right here what you're talking about
most. Seeing and responding to everything that
happens
in life only in the light of eternal
perspective and divine providence. That's
spiritual maturity.
You can handle whatever goes down in life
because its definition is not dependent upon
how it affects
you. What does God have to do with this is
your first thought. How is this affecting him
in how I respond? It's living as David said in
Psalm chapter 16 verses 8 and 9. He said,
I have a very flawed man, a very flawed
believer. I have set the Lord continually
before me because
he is my right hand. I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejo
ices.
My flesh also will dwell securely. In other
words, I'm living with God as the point of
reference
for everything that happens in my life. God is
the divine interpreter of every aspect of my
life
from the smallest things to the biggest things
. And when I do, as David said, live like that,
my heart is glad and my flesh is secure. Now
go back to verse 1 and chapter 4.
And again, let's think about him referring to
himself as a prisoner of the Lord. I beg you
to
walk wordedly. It seems that he is throwing
the fact that he is precisely at the moment of
writing
this letter of a prisoner. In other words, he
's doing it because right now he's saying,
I'm in a bad situation. I'm in a prison. I'm
not in a spa.
And so I think part of his point here is,
Christian, walk worthy no matter what it costs
.
Prison in every era of time is not a place you
want to be. Trust me, I have stories.
But he's saying, in spite of what's happened
to me, you walk worthy of the calling with
which
you have been called. Follow my lead, he's
saying. The word here for worthy
has to do with equalizing the scale. And as a
Christian, you should be striving for your
life pattern to be equalized with your
identity as being in Christ. That's what you
should be
striving for. And even if you find yourself in
prison, that shouldn't affect you.
Because if somebody reads this and says, well,
I mean, that's easy for the apostle Paul.
He's Paul to say walk worthy. He just throws
the fact that he's in prison here just to
remind
all of us. This ain't easy. It might lead to
prison for you. It might lead to death
as it did for him when his head was chopped
off of his body. That's how he died.
Not one of the very many hard circumstances
that Paul had to deal with in his life that
none of us will probably ever come close to
having to deal with ever change his commitment
to walk
worthy, not one beaten stone, shipwreck, go
through the list. So his appeal here
is rooted in his own negative circumstance of
being in prison. And he begs even as a
prisoner
for everybody to walk worthy. Now, don't
forget that this is behavior that's based on
right thinking.
You know the truth. Therefore, this is how you
live. That's what he's saying. There's not one
hint of any kind of legalism or legalistic
thinking in anything that I'm telling you here
today.
This is simply us taking in the word of God
and all of the blessings that we have been
blessed with given to us in the first chapter,
three chapters of Ephesians, and our response
to all of God's goodness to us is simple. Obed
ience. Obedience. That's not legalism.
That's the natural reaction, the natural out
working of a regenerate Christian in how we
live our
lives. We are not responding to God out of
fear. The fear of the Lord is a separate
category and
that's a different sermon for a different day,
whole separate category. We're responding to
God in this category right here in which I'm
preaching in this context out of gratitude.
Paul is saying, "I've just given you three
incredible chapters of God's amazing blessings
.
Now, would you just walk worthy?" That's what
he's saying. I'm begging you to walk worthy,
not only because that's what Lord buys God,
but it's also, again, I hammer the nail again.
It's
the best way for you to live. Again, hear me.
I'm not saying this is easy to keep this
perspective
every single day. It's hard for me too. So
many times, one step forward, two steps
backwards.
Huh? Anybody hear me on that? Especially
serving in the ministry. There is never
a moment. There is never, ever one second in
over 23 years of serving in the ministry where
I can say,
okay, I reached a goal. Let's celebrate. All
the saints are perfected here. Let's have a
party. No.
The work is never done. Sunday is always
coming and there has to be a sermon from
behind the
pulpit and I'm the dude to do it. There's
always continually things to pray for.
People going through problems all the time in
their life, just in this little small church,
just like I am. The work is never done, which
is just all the more reason for me to keep,
to strive, to keep this, this eternal
perspective on a daily, regular, continual
basis. The same for
you. As I strive in working towards spiritual
maturity in my life, guess what? I want the
same
thing for all of you. I want you to be
striving for the same thing that I am. Again,
because I know
that's what's best for all of us. It's like
Paul said, Galatians 4-19, my children, with
whom I am
again in labor until Christ is formed in you.
And for you to grow in Christ likeness and
spiritual
maturity, that's why I'm laboring, Paul says.
And I want the same thing for all of you and
for me too.
We're all in this same boat together. I'm just
the preacher. That's it. Now go back to 4-1.
You didn't think we were going to get out of
verse 1 today, I hope. But we're going to
close with this.
This is incredible. He implores us to walk, we
learn what that is, in a manner worthy of the
calling with which you have been called. So
our walk, our lifestyle, should be equivalent,
he is saying, to the calling with which we
have been called. What is this calling? Well,
who called you?
Who called you to Christ in John 6-44? Jesus
says, no one human, that's ability,
come to me unless the Father who sent me draws
him. Romans 8-30, and these whom he predest
ined,
he also called, and these whom he called, he
also justified, and these whom he justified,
he also glorified. That's all written past
tense because it's done. Who called you? God
did.
Who chose you in him before the foundation of
the world? God did. Who wrote your name in the
Lamb's
book of life before the world? God did. You
have been called, Christian, effectually.
Jesus told
his disciples, you have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you. 1 Corinthians 1, verses 26-30
,
for consider your calling, brethren, that
there were not many wise according to the
flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, but God has chosen the
foolish things of the world to shame the wise,
and God has chosen the weak things of the
world to shame the things which are strong,
and the base things of the world, and the desp
ised. God has chosen the things that are not,
so that he may nullify the things that are, so
that no man may boast before God, but by his
doing,
you are in Christ Jesus. 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1, verse 11, Paul says to this in,
"Also we pray for you always that our God will
count you worthy of your calling." 2 Peter 1,
10, "Therefore brethren, be all the more
diligent to make certain about his calling and
choosing
you for as long as you practice these things,
you will never stumble." Think of this.
If I just checked out all the religions of the
world, look at Islam and check that out,
I'll look at Judaism, I'll look at Buddhism,
and I might just even check out living a
totally
secular life, well I already checked that one
out, and all those things considered,
I decided by mind after looking at all that, I
think I'll choose Christianity. I think that
'll
be the best way to live, and if Christianity
was nothing more than a simple choice out of
many
choices, I mean, I would have to have some
level of commitment to it, right? I mean,
if I decided to do it, in my mind I would be
thinking, well this is worth doing, I mean,
that's what anything, if you're a sane,
logical person, if you decide to do something
that it
should be worth doing with all your heart, or
why else would I do it? But on the other hand,
if I understand that I'm a Christian because
the sovereign, eternal, almighty creator of
God
who rules heaven and earth and everything in
it wrote my name in a book before the world
began,
then I should add a tremendous sense of
response in the way that I live my life,
if indeed he did choose me and I didn't choose
him. You see the difference? You should feel
the
difference. We don't just wonder in, like we
do at Piccadilly in the line and say, well I
think
I'll have some of that hamburger steak regular
in that baked chicken, and then God doesn't
say,
well okay, if you thought through all the
options and you choose my way, okay, come on
in, you're
in that. That's not how it works, folks. God
chose you, Christian, what the Bible says,
and that's a very high calling. Ephesians,
Philippians 3, verse 14, "I press on toward
the goal for the
prize of what we call the God of Christ Jesus
," Saint Timothy 1-9, "who has saved us and
called us
with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and
grace,
which was granted to us in Christ Jesus, when
from all eternity," That's eternity past. You
can't get around it in the Bible. Hebrews 3-1,
"Therefore holy brethren, partakers of a
heavenly
calling, consider Jesus the apostle and high
priest of our confession. Our calling is high,
it is heavenly, and it is holy, and such a
calling by such an infinite God demands quite
the response, does it not, with our life."
Really for us, folks, that's really the most
important aspect of our life that we walk
worthy of our calling. From the moment that
you came to
Christ, until the moment that you see him face
to face, that's really all that matters, that
you
live up to who you are in Christ, that you
live up to the high calling with which you
have been
called. It really doesn't matter how much
money you make during your short time on this
earth,
or how you dress, or how nice your house is,
or your car, or that you get a promotion at
work,
it really doesn't matter that you're able to
get every little extra thing that you need or
want,
it really doesn't matter in the big picture
what your education is, or what your
profession is,
or how many worldly honors and accolades you
get. Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of
God and
all things you need will be added unto you."
Have you not found that to be true?
And that means really when it comes down to it
, only one thing matters, walk worthy
and bring glory to God with your life every
day. Who cares about prestige and being well
known in
the world? I mean, I really thank God that
right now at this season in my life, because I
'm closing
in on the 60s, that I work at a very low level
, blue collar job, and I pastor a very small
church.
You know why? It keeps me humble. And God
knows something about me. I need to be kept
humble.
I mean, I hate even saying that. I mean, is
that a humble brag right there that I just did
?
I promise I don't mean for it to be. I'm just
telling you the truth.
We are so blessed as Christians. You know what
Jesus says?
"If you love me, just obey me." Is that true
of you? I hope it is, and I pray that it is.
And now what we're going to do is we're going
to celebrate what he did to make all this
possible.
We're going to celebrate what he did on our
behalf on Calvary's tree
to make it even possible that we would have
the desire to believe. So I want you to turn
with
me to 1 Corinthians as we always do 11. And I
want to explain this every time.
I want you to get it ingrained in your brain
and in your heart and in your soul when we're
talking
about what we're doing in the Lord's Supper so
that you can put all this together at the same
time.
Because I don't want anyone to ever walk out
of a Lord's Supper depressed.
You should walk out of here singing. You
should walk out of here with joy in your heart
after we
have the Lord's Supper, but at the same time
recognizing what we're going to read about
here,
starting in verse 27, man, they were acting a
fool at the Lord's Supper in the church at
Corinth.
Paul had to get on to him starting verse 27.
He says, "Therefore, whoever eats the bread
and drinks
the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of
the Lord.
But a man must examine himself, and in so
doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of
the cup,
for he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks
judgment to himself if he does not judge the
body
rightly. For this reason, many among you are
weak and sick and a number sleep." Of course,
that means that they died. That God literally,
they got to the point where they were just so
much in willful sin as a Christian that he
took them out of this world and he killed them
. That's
what that means. Now, on the one hand, I
always read that to get you to recognize the
gravitas,
that means the weightiness, not only of what
it is that we're doing here,
but also of the reality of you keeping a short
account with God by the confession of your sin
.
Remember, there is the judicial, positional
forgiveness of all every single solitary one
of your sins past, present, and future because
of what Christ has done for you as a
substitutionary
atonement for you as a believer. All sins are
forgiven, okay? Righteousness of Christ imp
uted.
Not our righteousness, but his righteousness
gets us right with God. Not our performance as
a
Christian, but Christ's performance on our
behalf gets us right with God. Get that
straight,
but we're still down here in responsibility,
land, dealing with our flesh and our sin,
and we sin, and so it's right and it's fitting
for us as believers to acknowledge that
reality on a
daily basis, and then we get this wonderful
opportunity corporately together at the Lord's
table to acknowledge that reality, but don't
just stay there. Deal with it. We're going to
have a
moment of silence for you to deal with it, but
as soon as you deal with it, run immediately
to the cross,
and there you see King Jesus, and what he did
for you absorbing all of the wrath that you
deserve,
and absorbing all the terror of hell that you
deserve in himself who knew no sin,
that we might become the righteousness of God
in him, all of that comes together at this
table.
So let's bow our heads and close our eyes and
consider those biblical truths,
and then I'm going to pray in a moment and
invite you down to the table.
you
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