WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:24.679 If you're here to see Jesus, to somehow, someway, know Him more, to know Him better, you 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:24.679 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.899 can't see. Let's pray. Father, we want to see Jesus. We want to see Him high and lifted 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:46.140 up. And so, Father, by Your Spirit, by Holy Spirit, open a way, blaze a trail so that we 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:54.260 can see Jesus, a trail to the foot of the cross to see the face of our Savior in a clear 00:00:54.259 --> 00:01:06.039 way, that will fill our souls, that will calm our hearts this day, and that Your peace will 00:01:06.039 --> 00:01:18.680 wash over us. We want to know Him. Take us to Him. In Jesus' name, amen. Sadness, loneliness, 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:30.340 addiction, anxiety, poverty, infertility, miscarriage, injury, wayward children, abuse, 00:01:31.360 --> 00:01:43.200 slander, betrayal, persecution, prejudice, disease, disabilities, divorce, depression, terminal 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:53.240 diagnosis, death. So begins the last chapter in our current book by Matt Smethurst. It's 00:01:53.240 --> 00:01:58.980 a chapter on pain and suffering. He goes on to say this. He said, the most tragic thing 00:01:58.980 --> 00:02:07.379 about this list is that it's not exhaustive, not even close. I will say this. The thing 00:02:07.379 --> 00:02:15.199 about that list, you and I can be sailing along, right, in our life. Maybe the name of our ship 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:21.319 is The Blessed Life, right? We're just sailing along. We know the love of Jesus, right? We 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:29.740 rehearse it a lot. The sermon series this summer, right, is on a union with Christ. And that may 00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:38.400 even comfort us, right? We're just sort of sailing along. He in us, we in Him. What happens to Him 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:46.560 happens to us, right? The things we've been talking about the past few weeks. Then life gets interrupted. 00:02:48.040 --> 00:02:52.560 I can go back and read the list again, but I think you know, right? Life gets interrupted. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:03:04.319 For followers of Jesus, these interruptions, let's call them storms of life, are to be embraced. 00:03:06.219 --> 00:03:18.460 We're to embrace these storms. How? And let me tell you why, though, first. Because it's in the 00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:31.159 storms of life, then like no other time that you can know Jesus deeper. You can experience His peace 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:39.159 like no other time. And in fact, suffering can become sacred waters for a follower of Jesus. 00:03:40.819 --> 00:03:48.379 Now how? How does that happen? Okay, before we dig in too much, this morning, how about just for this 00:03:48.379 --> 00:04:00.400 morning? Let's think of our union with Christ as an epic sea voyage on a sailing ship. And like every 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:10.919 great epic voyage, your voyage has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And every great voyage has a 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:18.360 destination. And every great voyage has turning points. Some of them are storms, right? Some of them 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:24.060 are difficult. I can go back and read the list. We know those turning points. When storms like sea 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:30.879 billows just sort of roll in. We know that. Life gets interrupted. Those are turning points. 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:42.620 And each storm, pain and suffering, will drive you in one of two directions. And the thing about the 00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:48.579 storm, the pain and suffering, the trouble, the tribulations, the list, is that you will never be 00:04:48.579 --> 00:04:59.019 the same. You'll go in one of two directions, but you'll never be the same. And every great sea epic, 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:08.600 right? Every great story, the ship has a name. And at the very end, we're going to give our ship a name. 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:16.560 Our voyage and union with Christ to know him better, we're going to give that ship a name. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:22.260 But let's open our text this morning. It's Philippians 3. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:26.379 Starting in verse 7. 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:30.860 Hear the word of the Lord written. 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:42.420 But whatever gain I had, I count as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss 00:05:42.420 --> 00:05:48.220 because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:54.740 loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, 00:05:54.740 --> 00:06:00.879 not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:09.699 Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of his 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:16.980 resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible, 00:06:17.460 --> 00:06:23.500 I may attain the resurrection from the dead. This is the word of God. 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:31.840 Okay, so when Paul writes this, one thing you need to remember or maybe just think about, 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:39.259 he has already known Jesus intimately for nearly 30 years, yet in verse 10 he says, 00:06:39.960 --> 00:06:46.019 that I may know him. That's at the very heart of who Paul is and that's what we want to capture. 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:52.920 We want to know him. He says everything else is throwaway. Everything else is rubbish. 00:06:52.920 --> 00:07:04.180 Except to know him. That's it. That's why we exist, to know Jesus. And so our union with Christ is 00:07:04.180 --> 00:07:10.520 another way of saying knowing him, right? I want us to think about it as an epic voyage. And so let's 00:07:10.520 --> 00:07:16.879 talk about what every epic voyage has. It has a beginning, middle, and end. Let's talk about the 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:23.839 beginning. We're reformed people, right? We have lots of names and labels for everything. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:30.740 The beginning of your voyage, although I'm leaving out some early steps, you know, the order of 00:07:30.740 --> 00:07:34.779 salvation, the ordo salutis. There's a few things, but I'm just going to pick one for simplicity. 00:07:35.779 --> 00:07:43.159 The beginning of your voyage is called justification, right? Big 50-cent word. But here's what it means. 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:52.939 It's an act of God's free grace, right? Where by faith, we receive Christ's perfect record. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:58.960 He gets our imperfect record. We get his righteousness. He gets our unrighteousness. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:03.800 He lived the life you and I should have lived. He died the death you and I should have died. 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:11.720 Jesus, the Father's wrath was completely poured out on Jesus on the cross. 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:21.880 Jesus, the Lord. And by faith and repentance, we repent, right? Because we were born in a world 00:08:21.880 --> 00:08:26.120 where our voyage, you know the voyage you were on when you were born into this world? 00:08:26.880 --> 00:08:33.779 It was a voyage to know yourself. To put yourself on the throne. To follow after you. Your direction 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:42.600 was to yourself. To make yourself God. You start out in life. Your voyage is called original sin, 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:50.500 is what we like to call it. And your voyage was to self. It was anything, the opposite direction. 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:55.480 You were heading towards yourself this way. And so when God reveals your sin, and sin is making 00:08:55.480 --> 00:09:01.779 anything other than God your ultimate value and worth. And we had a lifetime of it until God intervenes. 00:09:01.779 --> 00:09:09.459 And we see our sin and we turn from self and we turn to him and we want to know him. 00:09:10.659 --> 00:09:18.220 That is what your beginning was. That is the beginning of your voyage to know him. 00:09:18.220 --> 00:09:26.320 Now, the end we call glorification in our circles and reformed circles. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:29.080 Presbyterian words. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:38.080 Glorification, your end, where you're going, it's ultimately to behold the face of God. 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:42.519 To see Jesus. Just begin to imagine that. 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:44.500 What is it like to see him? 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:47.639 To fully know him and him to fully know us. 00:09:47.899 --> 00:09:49.139 That's our destination. 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:54.759 Everything about us then, body and soul, will reflect the glory of Jesus. 00:09:55.259 --> 00:09:56.579 And we will know him. 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:02.840 And because of our union with him now, when that day comes, new heavens, new earth. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:04.620 You're in God's presence. 00:10:04.759 --> 00:10:05.740 You see Jesus. 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:07.279 You're breathing him in. 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:12.639 Everything about us, body and soul, will reflect his glory. 00:10:13.959 --> 00:10:18.539 And because of your union now, then it will be familiar. 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:20.019 You'll know that. 00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:21.519 You'll know his face. 00:10:22.299 --> 00:10:29.620 But forever and forever, his face and his presence, you will continue to know deeper and deeper. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:32.000 And it will become more glorious and more glorious. 00:10:32.419 --> 00:10:33.379 That's our end. 00:10:33.379 --> 00:10:35.980 You know your beginning and you know your end. 00:10:36.340 --> 00:10:37.600 But we live in the middle. 00:10:39.419 --> 00:10:40.939 Now, one thing. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:42.120 Take a look at this passage. 00:10:43.439 --> 00:10:46.600 This describes our glorification. 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:51.559 What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, 00:10:51.820 --> 00:10:54.320 the things God has prepared for those who love him. 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:55.779 That's our end. 00:10:56.100 --> 00:10:56.720 Now the middle. 00:10:57.940 --> 00:10:59.440 We call it sanctification. 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:04.140 Rather than an act of God's grace, free grace, it's a work of God's free grace. 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:05.900 So it's this idea that we live in the middle. 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:08.540 We're on this voyage and it takes time. 00:11:09.140 --> 00:11:13.600 And the purpose of this time, the Holy Spirit uses it. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:20.660 All the things of your voyage, everything you go through, is designed for you to know Jesus. 00:11:22.700 --> 00:11:26.040 Everything else is throwaway in your life other than knowing him. 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:31.159 And see, we are made more and more into the image of Jesus. 00:11:31.599 --> 00:11:33.259 We die more and more to self. 00:11:33.439 --> 00:11:36.120 We continue to turn away from self. 00:11:36.219 --> 00:11:36.959 We die to self. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:39.219 We pick up our cross and we follow Jesus. 00:11:39.860 --> 00:11:42.519 And we see the fruit of righteousness showing up in our lives. 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:47.199 And a way to think about the time in the middle is that it's like a process of taking, 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:49.339 if we're going to talk about union with Christ. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.039 Union with Christ is an objective reality. 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:53.759 Reality. 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:55.480 Right? 00:11:55.879 --> 00:12:03.500 And then all of your life in the middle is taking that objective reality and through subjective experience, 00:12:03.500 --> 00:12:06.959 realizing that union. 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:10.179 Realizing the love of Jesus more and more. 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:12.139 That's the process you and I are on. 00:12:13.219 --> 00:12:14.539 It's an adventure. 00:12:15.719 --> 00:12:19.120 It's the voyage of knowing Jesus. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:24.220 And so even after 30 years of knowing Jesus, you go, I want to know him. 00:12:25.659 --> 00:12:28.200 That's the voyage that you and I are on. 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:33.419 I think a great picture of this is Chronicles of Narnia. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:35.500 We have Chronicles of Narnia fans out here. 00:12:35.580 --> 00:12:36.440 I mean, we're Presbyterian. 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:37.740 Everybody is, right? 00:12:37.899 --> 00:12:38.240 Yes. 00:12:38.560 --> 00:12:38.919 Excellent. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:42.360 So I have this book. 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:44.580 It's called The Family Guide to Narnia. 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:48.100 There's a great passage at the very end of it. 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:50.020 Sort of pulls everything together. 00:12:50.800 --> 00:12:51.200 Right? 00:12:51.300 --> 00:12:55.020 The Chronicles of Narnia, it's a picture of life. 00:12:55.940 --> 00:13:01.680 What we go through, that voyage, that adventure of dying to self and the land that we're going to. 00:13:01.800 --> 00:13:04.379 Eventually, all of that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:07.580 Chronicles of Narnia does a great job with that sort of motif. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:08.720 Here we go. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.519 This is from Family Guide to Narnia. 00:13:12.779 --> 00:13:19.120 The last battle, the final book in the Chronicles of Narnia, Peter and Lucy and the others are very confused. 00:13:20.040 --> 00:13:23.340 They have just witnessed the complete destruction of Narnia. 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:28.860 And yet they now find themselves in a land very like it, only better. 00:13:30.300 --> 00:13:33.560 Lord Diggory is the one to grasp the situation. 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:41.959 Listen, Peter, when Aslan, Aslan is the lion, it's the Christ figure in the story. 00:13:42.500 --> 00:13:48.479 When Aslan said you could never go back to Narnia, he meant the Narnia you were thinking of. 00:13:49.079 --> 00:13:50.739 But that was not the real Narnia. 00:13:51.219 --> 00:13:52.899 That had a beginning and an end. 00:13:53.819 --> 00:14:00.399 It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia, which has always been here and always will be here. 00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:03.079 You need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy. 00:14:03.620 --> 00:14:11.060 All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures have been drawn into the real Narnia through the door. 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:13.500 And the door is a capital D, right? 00:14:13.680 --> 00:14:14.180 Jesus. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:18.600 It was the unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:25.700 He stamped his right foot on the ground and neighed and then cried, I have come home at last. 00:14:25.980 --> 00:14:27.520 This is my real country. 00:14:27.740 --> 00:14:28.560 I belong here. 00:14:28.680 --> 00:14:31.980 This is the land I have been looking for all my life. 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:34.060 Though I never knew it till now. 00:14:34.700 --> 00:14:40.519 The reason why we love the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a lot like this. 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:43.440 And then he said, come further up. 00:14:43.940 --> 00:14:45.200 Come further in. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.500 Your epic voyage. 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:52.560 Our epic voyage has a destination. 00:14:54.180 --> 00:14:56.680 Our destination is to know Jesus. 00:14:57.680 --> 00:14:58.660 That's our destination. 00:14:58.659 --> 00:15:04.100 Every day of our voyage in the middle is to know Jesus. 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:10.179 It's a voyage further up and further into the love of Jesus. 00:15:10.179 --> 00:15:15.559 And life in the middle is full of cross pressures. 00:15:16.359 --> 00:15:18.979 There's all kinds of things coming at us all the time. 00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:23.919 They're designed to entice us away from knowing Jesus. 00:15:24.979 --> 00:15:27.319 Paul calls them garbage and rubbish. 00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:28.079 Right? 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:28.419 He's trying. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:32.559 These are all throwaway things in our lives that are coming to take us off course. 00:15:32.959 --> 00:15:34.059 The Greek mythology. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:36.179 In Greek mythology they're called sirens. 00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:41.159 The siren songs are designed to sort of take us off course and go after those. 00:15:41.699 --> 00:15:42.939 Jesus warned us. 00:15:42.979 --> 00:15:44.639 He said it's the cares of the world. 00:15:45.339 --> 00:15:46.519 Deceitfulness of riches. 00:15:47.099 --> 00:15:48.879 The desires for other things. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:52.639 And so that's true. 00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:55.299 Life in the middle is a battle. 00:15:55.419 --> 00:15:59.500 And so we are on this epic voyage on a sailing ship. 00:15:59.859 --> 00:16:01.779 And it's not a cruise ship. 00:16:02.059 --> 00:16:03.319 It's a battleship. 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:07.680 It's a battle to know Jesus better and better. 00:16:08.160 --> 00:16:12.320 A battle to go further up and further into the love of Jesus. 00:16:13.180 --> 00:16:14.840 The love of the Trinity. 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:16.200 Right? 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.760 To go into and know Jesus greater and greater. 00:16:20.420 --> 00:16:23.980 The battle is to go further up and further in. 00:16:25.180 --> 00:16:28.140 In our tradition it's called keeping your heart. 00:16:28.380 --> 00:16:30.200 Because this is a battle to know Jesus. 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:30.460 This is a battle to know Jesus. 00:16:31.240 --> 00:16:33.860 We call it, you know, the Puritans called it keeping your heart. 00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:36.180 Another term is spiritual formation. 00:16:36.340 --> 00:16:38.879 But the Puritans went to Proverbs 4. 00:16:39.640 --> 00:16:45.780 Because the call during your voyage in the middle is to know him. 00:16:46.060 --> 00:16:47.060 And it's this though. 00:16:47.220 --> 00:16:49.460 Keep your heart with all vigilance. 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:51.320 That's what we do. 00:16:51.400 --> 00:16:53.320 We keep our heart with all vigilance. 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.379 For from it flow the springs of life. 00:16:56.379 --> 00:16:58.899 So this is keeping your heart. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:00.519 You might hear spiritual formation. 00:17:00.740 --> 00:17:03.299 But this is what we do to know him. 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:04.619 You keep your heart. 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:07.559 There's this great analogy. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:11.359 I remember reading this about 20 years ago. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:13.259 John Ortberg was doing an interview. 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.099 And he was talking about how do you keep your heart? 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:19.640 How do you keep your heart in a world where there's like all kinds of cross pressures. 00:17:20.099 --> 00:17:20.940 There's difficulties. 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:22.079 There's siren songs. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:25.220 There's so many things just taking our attention all the time. 00:17:25.220 --> 00:17:26.460 How do you keep your heart? 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:30.620 And the whole article was on spiritual formation. 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:32.400 But he said this. 00:17:32.460 --> 00:17:35.640 He said, knowing Jesus is like a voyage on the water. 00:17:36.579 --> 00:17:42.779 You need to see the difference between a motorboat, a raft, and a sailboat. 00:17:43.579 --> 00:17:44.200 That's what he said. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:48.000 He said, in a motorboat, I'm in charge. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.039 I determine how fast we're going to go and in what direction. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:57.079 Some people approach keeping their hearts or their spiritual life that way. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:59.159 If you're just aggressive enough. 00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:01.579 If you just have enough quiet times. 00:18:01.639 --> 00:18:05.019 If I can read the Bible through in a year like ten times. 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:05.779 All of that. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:06.859 If I can just work harder. 00:18:07.180 --> 00:18:10.559 I can make transformation happen on my own. 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:14.440 Usually the result in people becomes legalistic. 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:16.720 Then pride starts to creep in. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:18.680 And things get all messed up. 00:18:19.820 --> 00:18:22.980 Now some people have been burned by this kind of approach. 00:18:23.740 --> 00:18:28.000 So they go the opposite extreme and will say, I'm into grace. 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:31.500 It's like they're floating on a raft. 00:18:32.360 --> 00:18:35.080 If you ask them to do anything to further their growth. 00:18:35.299 --> 00:18:37.600 They'll say, hey no man. 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:39.039 I'm not into works. 00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:40.340 I'm into grace. 00:18:40.660 --> 00:18:42.200 You're getting legalistic with me. 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:43.620 You're harshing my grace buzz. 00:18:43.860 --> 00:18:44.019 You know. 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:46.819 So they drift. 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:49.759 And here's the thing. 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:53.640 There are too many commands in the scripture for anybody to think that we're called to be passive. 00:18:55.220 --> 00:18:56.180 But he says, ah. 00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:59.080 On a sailing ship, however. 00:19:00.080 --> 00:19:02.779 I don't move if there's not the wind. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:06.980 My only hope of movement is the wind. 00:19:07.700 --> 00:19:08.980 I can't control the wind. 00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:10.620 I don't manufacture the wind. 00:19:10.619 --> 00:19:14.399 Jesus talks about Holy Spirit blowing like the wind. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:17.139 But there is a role for me to play. 00:19:17.719 --> 00:19:20.399 And part of it has to do with what I need to discern. 00:19:21.239 --> 00:19:24.919 A good sailor will discern where is the wind at work. 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:27.079 How should I set the sails? 00:19:28.699 --> 00:19:29.819 Keeping your heart. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:31.919 Being vigilant. 00:19:32.779 --> 00:19:34.000 Is like sailing. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:37.500 The way to know Jesus. 00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:39.980 The way to know Jesus. 00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:43.420 Is you trim your sails on this voyage. 00:19:44.619 --> 00:19:47.200 And what are the ways that you trim your sails? 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:54.420 How do you go further up and further in the love of Jesus? 00:19:54.420 --> 00:19:57.460 I'm going to say there are three things. 00:19:58.060 --> 00:19:58.300 Okay. 00:19:58.420 --> 00:20:00.360 And the first one has three things in it. 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:07.779 The first way that we go further up and further in to knowing Jesus. 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:09.440 Right. 00:20:10.420 --> 00:20:11.380 Is this. 00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:13.680 We are. 00:20:14.140 --> 00:20:15.180 In our tradition. 00:20:15.360 --> 00:20:17.200 We are a word centric people. 00:20:18.120 --> 00:20:22.920 And so the way that we know God is how he has revealed to himself in God his word. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:26.980 And so we slow down. 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:29.299 And we open his word. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:32.340 And we approach his word prayerfully. 00:20:32.860 --> 00:20:35.559 And we read with pen and hand and paper. 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:39.620 Because we want to read his word and we want to contemplate. 00:20:40.360 --> 00:20:42.200 The Puritans called it meditating. 00:20:43.860 --> 00:20:46.840 But let's just stay away from that word because it means a lot of different things right now. 00:20:47.500 --> 00:20:47.980 Contemplate. 00:20:48.459 --> 00:20:50.039 We contemplate what we're reading. 00:20:50.199 --> 00:20:52.419 So read less scripture. 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:55.099 And contemplate more. 00:20:55.539 --> 00:20:59.439 And as you read the Holy Spirit, the wind blows. 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:01.000 And we are led into prayer. 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:03.480 And we end up praying God's words back to him. 00:21:03.679 --> 00:21:07.559 We end up praying and confessing sin as we see ourselves in scripture. 00:21:07.559 --> 00:21:08.599 And we find out that. 00:21:08.859 --> 00:21:11.259 And we see all that sin revealed. 00:21:12.139 --> 00:21:13.779 And so we end up praying. 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:18.399 So it's, some people have labeled it the Reformed Triangle. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:21.460 Actually, the Reformation Triangle. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:26.859 It's God's word, contemplation, and prayer. 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:32.559 And if you did sort of a Venn diagram with circles, the thing right in the middle would be called keeping your heart. 00:21:33.139 --> 00:21:33.379 Right? 00:21:33.419 --> 00:21:34.500 Where all the overlap. 00:21:35.219 --> 00:21:37.099 This is how you keep your heart vigilantly. 00:21:38.479 --> 00:21:39.519 That's number one. 00:21:39.579 --> 00:21:39.799 Right? 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:41.319 God's word. 00:21:43.059 --> 00:21:43.899 Contemplation and prayer. 00:21:44.059 --> 00:21:47.519 Number two is the body of Christ. 00:21:47.639 --> 00:21:49.240 Connecting to the body of Christ. 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:55.460 There's a word that's used in chapter one of Philippians and then later in chapter three in our text. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:59.839 Paul says this because in verse five of chapter one. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.500 Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:03.900 Right? 00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:05.740 All these prayers are being generated. 00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:07.599 And he talks about partnership. 00:22:08.099 --> 00:22:11.759 And then later on in chapter three, the word for sharing is the same word. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:17.339 And the reason why it's helpful to think about that is that word is a business term. 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:26.220 And if you've ever gone into business, especially if you have a partner, the whole thing about owning a business is it's your life. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.879 You own a business and you're in it with a partner. 00:22:30.579 --> 00:22:33.779 And you're invested money and time. 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:35.420 Everything's invested in it. 00:22:35.420 --> 00:22:44.480 And D.A. Carson mentions this, that the heart of true fellowship is self-sacrificing conformity to a shared vision. 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:51.420 And so when we partner together, when we connect with each other, we share a vision. 00:22:52.080 --> 00:22:55.279 And we have self-sacrificing conformity for that vision. 00:22:55.580 --> 00:22:57.640 And that vision is to know Jesus. 00:22:58.800 --> 00:23:00.680 It's the main thing. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:02.519 To know Jesus. 00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:04.860 Why do we want you to be in a grace group? 00:23:05.420 --> 00:23:08.380 Because that is one of the environments. 00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:10.580 It's one of the ways that we abide. 00:23:10.779 --> 00:23:12.680 It's one of the ways that we trim our sail. 00:23:13.019 --> 00:23:16.539 Because together we want to know Jesus. 00:23:16.820 --> 00:23:18.539 That's why we breathe. 00:23:19.560 --> 00:23:21.039 We want to know him. 00:23:21.900 --> 00:23:26.820 To go further up and further up and further into the love of Jesus. 00:23:29.100 --> 00:23:30.620 So that's number two, right? 00:23:30.620 --> 00:23:32.660 Number one, the Reformation Triangle. 00:23:33.220 --> 00:23:34.740 Prayer, contemplation. 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:37.220 And the word, you know, that whole cycle. 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:40.360 Second, connecting to the body of Christ. 00:23:40.580 --> 00:23:43.360 Number three, suffering. 00:23:43.820 --> 00:23:45.019 The storms of life. 00:23:48.560 --> 00:23:52.560 Suffering is how we know Jesus. 00:23:55.360 --> 00:23:59.300 Suffering can become very sacred waters, sacred seas. 00:23:59.299 --> 00:24:00.839 The trials and tribulations. 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:01.779 The trials and tribulations. 00:24:01.779 --> 00:24:02.619 The suffering. 00:24:02.619 --> 00:24:04.139 The list, right? 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:09.259 And storms will never leave you the same. 00:24:09.399 --> 00:24:12.940 All the difficulties, all the pain, all of it will never leave you the same. 00:24:13.399 --> 00:24:17.619 And each storm that you experience will drive you in one of two directions. 00:24:17.619 --> 00:24:24.639 You will either go further up and further into the love of Jesus. 00:24:24.639 --> 00:24:27.500 Or it will drive you further away. 00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:33.839 The sort pithy saying is that you will either get bitter or better as a result of the storms. 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:52.839 But no matter if we talk about any of the three areas of how you trim your sails, how you discern the moving of the spirit in your life, whether it's through the Reformation Triangle, through community, or through suffering, you have to keep in mind your destination. 00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:53.980 Reformation, always. 00:24:54.220 --> 00:24:56.099 It is to know Jesus. 00:24:57.480 --> 00:25:00.119 There's a great quote from Union with Christ. 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:02.539 I think that's my favorite book that we've been reading. 00:25:04.759 --> 00:25:07.720 Rankin-Wilburn says this, the means of abiding. 00:25:08.879 --> 00:25:12.339 I put in brackets how you trim your sails. 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:15.399 The means of abiding, right? 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:16.099 This is how. 00:25:16.359 --> 00:25:17.199 He says this. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:18.939 And abiding, right? 00:25:18.940 --> 00:25:22.860 It's making your home in Jesus, that he becomes everything. 00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:30.259 The means of abiding will only compel you to the degree that you prize what they enable. 00:25:31.600 --> 00:25:32.880 Communion with God. 00:25:34.140 --> 00:25:35.279 Union with Jesus. 00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:37.240 Knowing him. 00:25:37.660 --> 00:25:39.240 That's what they're designed to do. 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:46.460 Keller says, Tim Keller, and nothing can cause you to lose heart like suffering. 00:25:46.460 --> 00:25:53.340 I love that first line because it actually, when we talk about suffering, one of the, you know, you can either get bitter or better. 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:58.000 Many people have sort of lowered the life raft, got in their boat, and just took off away from God. 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:02.400 Many of us don't do that, but we lose heart. 00:26:03.380 --> 00:26:04.319 It's painful. 00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:07.860 If you've ever experienced any pain, it's just disorienting. 00:26:08.860 --> 00:26:10.039 And we lose heart. 00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:17.740 Nothing can cause you to lose heart like suffering, but neither can anything lead you into God's heart like suffering can. 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:22.980 If you let it, suffering can drive you like a nail into the heart of God, right? 00:26:23.099 --> 00:26:24.460 Further up and further in. 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:26.460 But here's the big question. 00:26:26.859 --> 00:26:27.339 How? 00:26:29.779 --> 00:26:32.200 Okay, so I want you to think now. 00:26:33.339 --> 00:26:35.420 Maybe we're rolling out a map, right? 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:36.379 We're on this voyage. 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:37.680 We're on a sailing ship. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:42.200 You know, I'm picturing it's the 1800s and these giant sailing ships, right? 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:44.220 We're just, and we pull out this map. 00:26:44.259 --> 00:26:45.560 And it just dawned on me this morning. 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:49.019 Let's think of it as a treasure map, right? 00:26:49.080 --> 00:26:50.500 We just pull out this map. 00:26:50.860 --> 00:26:53.120 And on this map, we're looking at our voyage. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:54.279 It had a beginning. 00:26:54.560 --> 00:26:55.799 We know it has an end. 00:26:56.019 --> 00:26:57.720 And we're sort of like the mall map. 00:26:58.060 --> 00:27:00.019 You are here, right? 00:27:00.080 --> 00:27:00.620 In the middle. 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:02.160 And you're looking at it. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:06.980 And many times, the you are here part is during suffering. 00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:08.980 And let me encourage you. 00:27:09.740 --> 00:27:14.400 This map analogy, don't pull it out for the first time when you start to go through suffering. 00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:15.259 It'll be harder. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:18.680 But you want to pull out this map often. 00:27:19.259 --> 00:27:21.640 And you want to rehearse your beginning. 00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:24.560 You want to think about that. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:26.859 And you want to rehearse your end. 00:27:27.940 --> 00:27:31.259 Because your beginning and end inform the middle. 00:27:32.619 --> 00:27:36.519 And so what I mean by that is, here's what your beginning tells you. 00:27:37.299 --> 00:27:40.679 It tells you God loves you. 00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:45.799 It tells you Jesus loves you with every ounce of his being. 00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:49.619 Again, Tim Keller. 00:27:49.619 --> 00:27:58.639 Father, when things go wrong, one of the ways you lose your peace is that you think maybe you are being punished. 00:28:00.879 --> 00:28:03.059 I love how he said lose your peace, right? 00:28:03.199 --> 00:28:04.119 Losing heart. 00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:05.359 Losing your peace. 00:28:06.299 --> 00:28:09.799 How do you have peace in the middle of pain? 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:16.939 One of the ways you lose your heart is that you think maybe you are being punished. 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:18.299 But look at the cross. 00:28:18.479 --> 00:28:19.219 Think of your beginning. 00:28:19.220 --> 00:28:20.180 Look at the cross. 00:28:21.180 --> 00:28:23.279 All the punishment fell on Jesus. 00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:26.579 Or you may think maybe God doesn't care. 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:27.700 But look at the cross. 00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:30.019 You pull out the map. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:31.059 It's a treasure map. 00:28:31.779 --> 00:28:33.779 You know, and the pearl of great price. 00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:34.420 It's everything. 00:28:34.539 --> 00:28:35.460 It's all wrapped up here. 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:36.460 And you look at your beginning. 00:28:36.819 --> 00:28:40.279 And if you're experiencing pain, you know it can't be because he doesn't care. 00:28:40.420 --> 00:28:42.600 And you know it can't be because you're being punished. 00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:46.000 And you want to take heart. 00:28:46.220 --> 00:28:48.100 You want that to sink deep into your soul. 00:28:48.099 --> 00:28:50.179 And you want to rehearse and rehearse and rehearse that. 00:28:50.980 --> 00:28:52.919 Your beginning tells you that you're loved. 00:28:52.919 --> 00:28:57.139 Your end tells you that the best is yet to come. 00:28:57.140 --> 00:29:09.560 So when Paul is talking about suffering in Philippians 3, he's doing it with the imagery of Jesus and Isaiah 53. 00:29:09.559 --> 00:29:14.480 He knows Jesus was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. 00:29:14.980 --> 00:29:17.579 And Paul wants to partner with Jesus. 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:20.419 He wants to know everything about him. 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:21.399 He's all in. 00:29:21.879 --> 00:29:24.980 Including, if Jesus suffered, I will suffer. 00:29:24.980 --> 00:29:27.519 And I know the purpose. 00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:37.460 So that I can go deeper, further up, and further in to the happy land of the Trinity above all worlds. 00:29:37.460 --> 00:29:41.259 To experience the love of Jesus. 00:29:41.259 --> 00:29:53.279 And so Paul would say, there's no suffering too great for the joy and the privilege of knowing Jesus. 00:29:54.920 --> 00:29:58.859 I dare say that our suffering can become sacred waters. 00:29:58.859 --> 00:30:03.379 Maybe it's best to think about that as you enter into it. 00:30:03.699 --> 00:30:04.959 No matter what it is. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:06.759 You have your own list. 00:30:08.439 --> 00:30:11.139 It's a way further up and further in. 00:30:12.259 --> 00:30:17.339 Let this passage in Psalm 63 become real to you. 00:30:17.539 --> 00:30:18.619 Meditate on it often. 00:30:20.059 --> 00:30:23.339 Because your steadfast love is better than life. 00:30:24.199 --> 00:30:25.059 Think about that. 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:26.879 Better than life. 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:29.080 Everything else is throw away. 00:30:29.660 --> 00:30:32.460 Except to know the love of Jesus. 00:30:33.340 --> 00:30:37.700 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:44.420 Your suffering becomes sacred waters as you rehearse the love of Jesus. 00:30:44.660 --> 00:30:50.140 I remember so clearly when we were going through all that we went through with our special needs son. 00:30:50.200 --> 00:30:51.500 I've brought him up many times. 00:30:51.580 --> 00:30:53.280 But this is the thing that I really remember. 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:54.839 It was very painful. 00:30:54.980 --> 00:30:55.859 Very difficult. 00:30:56.180 --> 00:30:57.539 Having to place him out of the home. 00:30:57.639 --> 00:30:58.700 Everything about that. 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:04.859 God spoke about as audibly as possible to my beautiful, wonderful wife Sherry. 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:09.559 He said to her, I love Billy more than you do. 00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:11.339 And I love you and Bill. 00:31:11.339 --> 00:31:16.859 That our suffering and the pain became sacred waters. 00:31:16.859 --> 00:31:19.359 Because we know the love of Jesus. 00:31:20.939 --> 00:31:24.439 You know, and then thinking through the best is yet to come. 00:31:24.959 --> 00:31:26.159 The final resurrection. 00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:27.419 The new heavens, new earth. 00:31:27.799 --> 00:31:30.339 To finally breathe in Jesus in a great way. 00:31:30.419 --> 00:31:31.179 That's our destiny. 00:31:31.319 --> 00:31:32.039 That's the treasure. 00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:34.299 Where we're all heading. 00:31:34.619 --> 00:31:35.959 As followers of Jesus. 00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:36.160 Jesus. 00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:39.680 Let's go back to Narnia just briefly. 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:45.880 At the unicorn's call, the seven kings and queens and their friends began running deeper and deeper into the country. 00:31:46.220 --> 00:31:50.759 But no matter how far they go, they find that there is always more ahead. 00:31:51.019 --> 00:31:53.500 And over and over, the call is heard. 00:31:53.640 --> 00:31:55.079 Further up and further in. 00:31:55.079 --> 00:32:06.960 All their life in this world and all their adventures, all their voyages in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page. 00:32:07.439 --> 00:32:11.919 Now at last, they were beginning chapter one of the great story which no one on earth has read. 00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:16.039 Which goes on forever in which every chapter is better than the last. 00:32:17.259 --> 00:32:21.399 Even when it's the end, the voyage will continue further up and further in to know him. 00:32:22.439 --> 00:32:24.439 Okay, so we're wrapping things up. 00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:30.439 I told you we need a name for our sailing ship, right? 00:32:30.699 --> 00:32:31.539 We need a name. 00:32:32.919 --> 00:32:38.000 This voyage that you and I are on, further up and further in to know Jesus. 00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:41.599 Everything else is throw away, right? 00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:50.599 So I was reading this book and in it was mentioned this memoir that was written by a woman doctor that was a missionary in Africa. 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:55.879 At some point, middle of last century, 1940s or 50s, something like that. 00:32:56.339 --> 00:32:57.359 She wrote this memoir. 00:32:58.859 --> 00:33:00.179 Listen to her list. 00:33:00.379 --> 00:33:02.740 You know the list at the beginning of the sermon, all the difficulties? 00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:04.899 Listen to her list, okay? 00:33:04.900 --> 00:33:25.080 A deep-seated struggle with singleness, captured by rebel soldiers, witnessing months of wickedness and unspeakable atrocities, rape, a critical illness, loneliness, fear, considerable pain and weakness associated with polymyalgia, resulting in total dependence on others. 00:33:25.079 --> 00:33:28.799 And then the final stages in which Alzheimer's took hold of her. 00:33:29.339 --> 00:33:33.839 These were some of the many problems and hardships she experienced in her life. 00:33:34.139 --> 00:33:35.720 Of course, there were many struggles. 00:33:36.379 --> 00:33:39.460 She sometimes rebelled against God's will for her life. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:45.519 Self-pity, questioning and complaining were responses she had to fight through. 00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:55.819 Yet the author, Helen Rosvear, uses the word enough as a title for her book in which she looks back on her life. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:00.240 Had she had enough of suffering and deprivation? 00:34:00.740 --> 00:34:08.119 Did the word enough describe her relief that this hard life was all over and she could retire in comfort? 00:34:09.179 --> 00:34:10.519 No, not at all. 00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:20.780 Enough actually describes the way in which in all these different experiences, however horrible, the Lord Jesus was enough for her. 00:34:21.699 --> 00:34:28.139 Despite all she had gone through, Helen wrote, he really was enough for happiness and contentment. 00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:33.539 And in many of her struggles, she entered into a deeper and more satisfying relationship with the Lord. 00:34:33.539 --> 00:34:35.639 She went further up and further in. 00:34:35.639 --> 00:34:44.900 You and I are on an epic and noble voyage deeper up and deeper in into the love and knowledge of Jesus. 00:34:45.879 --> 00:34:47.599 Knowing him is our destination. 00:34:47.759 --> 00:34:48.400 He's our treasure. 00:34:49.219 --> 00:34:50.400 It's a treasure map. 00:34:50.619 --> 00:34:52.039 It has a beginning, middle, and end. 00:34:52.920 --> 00:34:57.279 Our role in the middle is to discern the Holy Spirit, right? 00:34:57.420 --> 00:34:59.739 Trim our sails, right? 00:34:59.739 --> 00:35:01.979 Word, contemplation, and prayer. 00:35:03.099 --> 00:35:10.099 Connecting with other believers and entering in the sacred waters of pain and suffering. 00:35:11.099 --> 00:35:13.119 Because it's all about knowing him. 00:35:13.879 --> 00:35:16.599 So let's name the sailing battleship that we're on. 00:35:16.899 --> 00:35:17.679 Let's give it a name. 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:23.299 Because when life is interrupted with pain and suffering and everything about life is engulfed by a storm, 00:35:23.300 --> 00:35:26.980 it is then that we have all we need in Jesus. 00:35:27.740 --> 00:35:29.560 He's all we need. 00:35:30.660 --> 00:35:31.539 Our ship's name? 00:35:32.519 --> 00:35:32.940 Enough. 00:35:35.180 --> 00:35:35.700 Enough. 00:35:35.880 --> 00:35:36.940 Jesus is enough. 00:35:39.160 --> 00:35:40.620 That we may know him. 00:35:42.200 --> 00:35:43.820 The power of his resurrection. 00:35:44.080 --> 00:35:44.960 Share in his sufferings. 00:35:45.060 --> 00:35:46.539 Becoming like him in his death. 00:35:48.720 --> 00:35:50.740 Jesus is enough. 00:35:50.739 --> 00:36:02.419 And the beauty of this sacrament, where we come to the table, and Jesus left this picture. 00:36:03.279 --> 00:36:04.339 Is it our treasure map? 00:36:04.419 --> 00:36:04.639 Okay. 00:36:04.859 --> 00:36:05.779 It's our treasure map. 00:36:06.219 --> 00:36:07.679 He left us a beautiful picture. 00:36:08.799 --> 00:36:13.679 Because in the cup, we see the blood that he shed for us. 00:36:13.799 --> 00:36:16.739 In the bread, we see his body offered for us, and that was broken. 00:36:18.219 --> 00:36:19.759 And so we come to it often. 00:36:20.739 --> 00:36:22.779 Many times in the storms of life. 00:36:23.579 --> 00:36:25.339 Many times when things are well. 00:36:26.779 --> 00:36:29.679 But we come because we want to see Jesus. 00:36:30.359 --> 00:36:35.779 The sacraments are designed to point you to Jesus so that you see him and you know him. 00:36:37.299 --> 00:36:42.059 Amazingly and mysteriously and wonderfully, as you come and take part of this, 00:36:42.059 --> 00:36:45.699 it's how he reveals himself and how we know him. 00:36:48.840 --> 00:36:51.659 These are the words of the institution of the supper of the Lord. 00:36:51.840 --> 00:36:53.940 Paul writes them in 1 Corinthians 11. 00:36:53.940 --> 00:37:00.700 I received from the Lord that which I passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, took bread. 00:37:01.539 --> 00:37:04.260 And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take and eat. 00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:06.320 This is my body, which is broken for you. 00:37:06.820 --> 00:37:08.300 Do this in remembrance of me. 00:37:09.000 --> 00:37:14.039 In the same way, after supper, he also took the cup, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. 00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:17.880 This do whenever you drink it in remembrance of me. 00:37:18.199 --> 00:37:23.779 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show forth the Lord's death until he comes. 00:37:24.940 --> 00:37:29.259 And so the truth is, this is a meal designed for those of us on this voyage. 00:37:29.260 --> 00:37:32.940 And it becomes sustenance for us. 00:37:33.040 --> 00:37:37.000 And we ingest and we rehearse the beginning and the end. 00:37:37.120 --> 00:37:39.440 And it makes sense of the middle for us. 00:37:40.340 --> 00:37:46.140 And so we say this, that if you have professed your faith publicly in church, any other setting, 00:37:46.300 --> 00:37:52.360 this isn't just for Presbyterians, it's for those of you that are just clinging to him for dear life. 00:37:53.280 --> 00:37:54.280 We say welcome. 00:37:54.280 --> 00:38:00.960 Now, if you're not quite yet on your voyage and you have lots of questions and, you know, 00:38:00.980 --> 00:38:05.640 rather than taking the bread or the cup, take Jesus. 00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:08.820 Think about what he's done for you. 00:38:08.900 --> 00:38:10.880 Think about maybe where you have fallen short. 00:38:10.940 --> 00:38:15.300 Because truth is, we know that this isn't for perfect people. 00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:18.360 We've even repented of our own righteousness. 00:38:19.880 --> 00:38:21.480 That's how deep our sin is. 00:38:21.480 --> 00:38:24.599 Let me pray. 00:38:24.780 --> 00:38:31.519 Father, meet us in this amazing, beautiful sacrament. 00:38:32.920 --> 00:38:33.619 Meet us here. 00:38:35.199 --> 00:38:36.559 May we see your face. 00:38:39.340 --> 00:38:41.179 In Jesus' name, we give thanks for this. 00:38:41.219 --> 00:38:41.699 It's amazing. 00:38:41.820 --> 00:38:42.940 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:38:42.940 --> 00:38:50.400 So, the Lord Jesus, in the same night in which he was betrayed, he took the bread. 00:38:50.480 --> 00:38:55.960 And when he had given thanks, as we have done in his name this morning, here, now, he took the bread and broke it. 00:38:56.039 --> 00:38:59.920 And he said, this is my body, broken for you. 00:38:59.920 --> 00:39:03.639 Take and eat all of you. 00:39:05.220 --> 00:39:07.460 In the same manner, he took the cup. 00:39:07.539 --> 00:39:13.059 And after having given thanks, as we have done in his name, he gave it to his disciples and he said, 00:39:13.059 --> 00:39:25.179 Now, let the ushers help you. 00:39:25.860 --> 00:39:27.900 They're going to help you sort of get up and know where to go. 00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:36.000 Let's meet Jesus in this amazing, beautiful sacrament. 00:39:37.780 --> 00:39:38.920 Father, thank you. 00:39:40.280 --> 00:39:42.200 You're kind to meet us here. 00:39:42.440 --> 00:39:44.000 You're kind to reveal yourself. 00:39:45.619 --> 00:39:50.480 Let us come with anxious, happy, anxious to be in your presence, happy hearts. 00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:57.280 And even if we're heavy right now, Lord, by faith, we will seek your face. 00:39:57.840 --> 00:39:59.019 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:40:00.360 --> 00:40:03.900 For more information, visit us online at southwood.org.