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Good morning. Welcome today to worship at Ebenezer Presbyterian Church. It's always a blessing to welcome our regular uh members to the church.

Also to welcome any guests and friends that might be here today. We're thankful that you have come and we do hope that you'll come back and worship with us again in the future. Would you please um take the friendship pads?

They're on the outside of the rows. And if you could fill in that information and uh pass that down so that others have an opportunity to do the same. And if you are a guest today for the first time, it would be helpful to us if you might include your email address and that way we could just reach out to you with an email this week and thank you for worshiping at Ebenezer.

Few announcements that I do want to just highlight uh in your bulletin. Uh one is uh for the uh blood drive which is coming up on July 16th. Uh if you would like to sign up for that, there is a uh code that's uh in the insert and you can uh use that and sign up.

From what I understand, uh our signup has been uh fairly uh limited this year and so we really would like to have folks do that if you can. I know people are busy and such, but it really is such a worthy cause and as I've said before, it's a way that we can love our neighbors. And so, uh, if you are so led, please use that QR code and you can sign up for, uh, the blood drive coming up, uh, on July 13th.

Also, uh just an announcement, uh as we uh receive the Lord's supper today, uh when it comes to the uh bread that's going to be passed out, the gluten-free bread will be in the middle of it, and it's in a little package for those that uh would like to avail themselves of that. Uh lastly, I do want to uh ask uh that you keep in prayer our associate pastor, [clears throat] George Bernard, who uh is at Appalachia this week. And uh we also pray for his family too who don't have their daddy home right now.

Uh but ask that uh the Lord would keep Jordan safe and bring all the group from Appalachia uh back again uh after their uh several days of ministry. Let's take a moment now and let's uh prepare ourselves to worship the Lord. Our call to worship today is from Lamentations chapter 3 beginning in verse 22.

Would you please stand with me? The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end.

They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Please pray with me.

Our sovereign father, the great king over all creation. We, your people, called by your grace, come with joy on this Lord's day to offer you the morning sacrifice of praise. As every occasion of corporate worship is a time of covenant renewal, so we rejoice in your covenant faithfulness and your steadfast love to us in your son Jesus Christ.

He is the radiance of your glory. He is the exact imprint of your nature by his blood that washes away all of our sins. Receive us into your presence before your throne of grace.

and grant us we pray your holy spirit to direct our worship in spirit and in truth as you require this we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Please take out your hymn book.

Let's turn to number 32. We are going to sing great is thy faithfulness. This is a hymn that was inspired by uh our call to worship from Lamentations 3.

And as we sing it, you'll notice that it prompts us to praise God not only for his faithfulness, but also for God's immutability. The fact that God does not change. And together, these remind us not only that God is faithful, but he is always faithful, meeting us with new mercies every day.

Let's join together and sing. >> [music] >> Father will forever. Praise thy faithfulness.

Praise thy faithfulness. My Glory. Hallelujah.

Thous. Praise glory. I see.

Hallelu Glor. Glory holy. Let's join.

together and confess our faith using the nyine creed which you'll find printed in the worship guide. We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father.

Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake, he was crucified under Pontious Pilate.

He suffered death and was buried. On the third day, he rose again according to the scriptures and ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father >> to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son, he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy, Catholic, and apostolic church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

You may be seated. In Proverbs chapter 28 verse 13, we are told, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." With God's mercy in mind, let us go to him and confess to him our sins in true repentance and faith. And we'll do so first quietly and then we'll join together in the confession that's printed in the worship guide.

Let's pray together. Please pray with me. Holy God, righteous in all your ways, as we examine ourselves against the standard of your moral law, our sins are exposed.

At each point we are accused and condemned. We have no hope in ourselves but wholly lean on Jesus' name. We put our faith in him who has paid the penalty for our sins in full on the cross.

By his wounds we are healed. By faith we receive his record of perfect obedience to the law on our behalf. In him you reckon us righteous in your sight.

Please grant to us your Holy Spirit who empowers us now to live out our new life in Christ putting to death the deeds of the flesh even as we grow in the grace of godliness through him we pray. Amen. If you have prayed that prayer trusting in the Lord Jesus, hear this assurance of your forgiveness from Colossians 1:13 and 14.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. Thanks be to God. Good.

[music] Calgary Ransom. Hallelu. I myself.

Christ. Let's bow together in prayer. Oh Lord, as Ben has just sung, would you animate our souls that they would rise up in praise to Christ our living Lord?

For even now before your throne of grace, he is our shorty in whom we stand. Our names are written on his hands. We rejoice in Christ whose blood has made atonement for all of our sins so that we ransom sinners would not die.

But by that same blood, we take our place in your family and we are assured of our sunship. Now our savior intercedes in our behalf, our advocate, whose righteous prayers are powerful and effective. By those prayers, let not one of those that you have given to him be lost.

Sovereign God, cause this amazing truth to be more than words on our lips, but make it the praise that swells our hearts with joy and with thanksgiving. And may it lead us forth as those called in Christ's name to live for you and for the sake of your kingdom. Loving God, we intercede this morning on behalf of those in our church family who look to you for help.

We pray for healing for those who are sick, for those in the hospital and especially we are mindful of Terry Jackman. We pray for those who are undergoing treatments, for those who are recovering from surgery. We ask, oh God, that you would mend what is broken and that you would restore them.

We pray for those who look to you for employment and ask you to open opportunities. We pray for relationships within families that are strained and ask you to mend them with patience and with love and with forgiveness. We pray for those who are struggling with depression and we ask you to dispel the darkness with your light.

Oh Lord, amidst the tribulations of this world, we rejoice that you have overcome it and in you we are more than conquerors in Christ. Our sovereign God, by your omnipotent hand, you rule over all things, establishing the boundaries of nations and determining when and where they will rise and fall. We tra take great comfort in knowing that you ordained this nation 250 years ago.

And though we must not claim for this country the promises in scripture that you spoke to Israel, nevertheless, your word does call us as a people to humble ourselves before you. We thank you for the freedoms that we enjoy and most especially the freedom to worship you without persecution. Even so, let not our ease make us lukewarm and sleepy, lest you afflict us.

We thank you for the prosperity you have given us, yet let it not blind our hearts to our dependence upon you or imagine your gifts are really the works of our hands. We thank you for protecting this nation and yet keep us, we pray, from putting our competence in military might instead of you. We thank you for our rich history even as we seek your forgiveness for our sins and we ask you to lead us forward in faithfulness.

Oh Lord, what nation other than Israel under the old covenant has been so richly blessed as the United States? And yet to whom much is given, much is expected. Raise us up to be that light on a hill that those first pilgrims desired.

Grow your kingdom in our midst and fulfill your purposes through us that Christ would be proclaimed here and abroad. May the peoples praise you, oh Lord. May all the peoples praise you.

This prayer we ask in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. At this point, the children four years old and kindergarten are welcome to go to children's church.

Uh if you are um going to remain in the service uh let's plan to get join together and present our offerings to the Lord uh his tithes and our offerings and as we do we will sing together. deepure [singing] that [music] we should give his son to make [singing and music] a treure. Turns sons to glor.

Glor [singing] ashamed I hear [music] my mocking >> [singing] >> my sin that there [music] [singing] [music and singing] is finished. I will [singing] no [music] gift his death I should not [music] have I gain from his I know with all [music] my Amen. You uh I was going to say you may be seated.

You were already seated. Please turn with me in your Bibles to our text this morning for our sermon. Uh we're looking today at 1 Timothy 4:es 1-5.

1 Timothy 4 1-5. And if you are using a pew Bible, you'll find that on page 992. With our text this morning, the Apostle Paul returns to his primary focus for this letter to Timothy, which was the need for Timothy to confront head on a very serious problem in the church at Ephesus.

And that is the presence of these false teachers who uh in the congregation are leading some to astray by their different doctrine. Now, up to this point, Paul has only alluded to the errors of these false teachers. We know from chapter 1 verse4 that they pedled speculative teachings that involved myths and endless genealogies.

We also know from chapter 1 verse 7 that some of them desired to be teachers of the law. And yet Paul quickly adds that while they spoke with confidence, it was also true that they lacked understanding. They did not know what they were talking about.

Now in our text today, Paul will give more detail regarding the erroneous teachings of these men as they offered up to the Ephesians a counterfeit form of holiness that was centered upon legalistic aestheticism which ultimately denies the believers freedom in Christ in the enjoyment of all of God's good gifts. So as we come now to God's word, let's begin in prayer. Lord God, you are the God of truth and therefore your word breathed out by your Holy Spirit is without error in the whole and in the parts.

It is infallible, completely reliable, the only rule for faith and practice. To the end that we would rightly understand it and live it. Please give to the one who preaches both wisdom and knowledge and to those who hear a keen discernment.

And if anything that is ever said from this pulpit does not accord with your truth, call it cause it to fall quickly from our ears. But all that is right and true, we ask you to write it upon our hearts that we would know and love the truth and the truth would set us free through Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life. We pray, amen.

1 Timothy 4, beginning in verse one, as Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit, he writes, "Now the spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from food that God created to be received. received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Amen. I still remember a conversation from several years ago that I had with a member of the church that I served that was telling me about his Sunday school class and how much he was enjoying it.

And naturally, I was very glad to hear it. But then he said to me, "I'm learning so much things that I never knew about the Bible and so much that I thought was right, I'm finding out was wrong." Well, that piqued my interest and so I asked him like what? And he proceeded to tell me some of the most bizarre things that I had ever heard that were being taught by the man leading the class.

Well, after confirming that this was what he was teaching with some others in the class, I asked the man if he would be willing to come to our next session meeting and explain his errors, which he very happily and proudly did. Immediately, his errors were brought to light. And in addition, he stated his objection to the Westminster Confession of Faith on multiple points.

With his errors brought to his attention, he dismissively told the session and myself that we were the ones in error and did not know what we were talking about. Not surprisingly, the session determined that he could no longer teach. And immediately he chose to leave the church.

But before he did, he played the role of a persecuted murderer and rallied several in the class to his defense, including the man that I had originally spoken to. Many of them ended up leaving the church as well. The last I heard of the man whose teachings had created so much discord, he had decided to start his own house church with just his family and a few other followers.

And here he could teach as he wanted without any oversight. Looking back, it was a hard lesson to learn about properly vetting those who teach and not assuming their qualifications because they had been members of the church for a while. This was a failure on the part of the session and myself as the pastor.

And it was also a difficult lesson to learn about the reality of false teachers and the damage that demonic teaching can do. That's our first point this morning which we see in verse one. Now the spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.

Paul's statement follows immediately on the heels of chapter 3:14 and 15 where we are told that the church is a pillar and butress of the truth and then Paul explains the essence of that truth in verse 16 with his magnificent picture of Jesus in six scenes from humiliation to exaltation which we saw last week. But with verse one, Paul assures us that this truth will not go unopposed. The Holy Spirit has made it clear that in latter times, there will be those who reject the truth and cause others to do the same.

With this term latter times, Paul is not referring to some point in the far distant future, but he is referring to this present age, the time between Jesus two advents, his first coming when he inaugurated the kingdom and his second coming when he will consummate it. And in these latter times, these in between times, we should not be surprised by the presence of false teachers and the success that they will have in leading many to depart from the faith. The Greek word that's translated as depart gives us our English word apostasy.

Apostasy represents the most serious departure from Christian orthodoxy. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the same word is used to describe Israel and its unfaithfulness to the Lord. In Matthew 24:11, Jesus warned, "And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray." Paul describes their teaching as that of deceitful spirits and teachings from demons.

The apostle understood that while false teachers themselves are flesh and blood, there is a spiritual element far more sinister behind their message. Such lies and deceptions bear the unmistakable mark of Satan and his minions. For Jesus said, "He does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.

When he lies, he speaks out of his own character. For he is a liar and the father of lies." Now, please understand, for a teaching to be demonic does not mean that it comes to us with the word evil stamped all over it. After all, doesn't Satan portray himself as an angel of light?

For a teaching to be demonic, it simply needs to be deceptive in a way that undermines or denies the truth. And just as we see in the Garden of Eden, it will often be very attractive and appealing. For instance, God will heal you of your illness if you have enough faith or if you give enough money.

God wants you to be happy. God loves you just the way you are. God wants you to have your best life.

Now, those statements are at best half-truths and at worst outright lies, but they have certainly found a very receptive ear. And such errors don't even begin to touch on the false teachings related to the Bible, to the nature of God, the person in the work of Christ, sin, justification, sanctification, the resurrection, and more. Especially in the context of liberal theology, these erroneous teachings amount to nothing more than counterfeit truths.

And how do you learn to recognize a counterfeit? You do so by knowing the genuine article so well that you could spot a fake from miles away. This is why you and I must be grounded in God's word.

We must be reading it. We must be studying it, memorizing it, meditating upon it. We need to be absorbing sound theology through biblical preachers, through teachers, through authors.

Those who go through their lives with a juvenile or an immature faith are especially gullible to the enemy's lies and distortions. In 1 John 4:1 we read, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false teachers have gone out into the world." Second, we see the questionable character of these false teachers. Verse two, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.

The Greek word translated as insincerity can also be rendered as hypocrisy. As you may know, the Greeks and the Romans used this word for actors in a play who pretended to be someone that they were not. Likewise, the hypocrite or the insincere person portrays himself to be something other than what he really is.

He wears a mask to disguise himself. And as it relates to false teachers, often you will find them quick to tell others what to do even as they live by a different standard themselves. In addition, Paul says that they have consciences that are seared.

Importance of the conscience cannot be overstated. In Romans 2:14 and 15, Paul speaks of the Gentiles who were not even given the Mosaic law and yet they obey. And by their obedience, they quote show that the work of the law is written on their hearts while their consciences also bears witness.

The conscience is that builtin mechanism God gives to all people by which we have an innate moral awareness and accountability before God. As such, our consciences can accuse us or they can excuse us. Now, to be certain, our consciences have been affected by the fall.

And even after we have been made a new creation in Christ, our consciences are not completely reliable and must be continually informed by God's word. But they still serve an important function to alert us to sin and guilt. John Calvin described the conscience as a sense of divine judgment, as a witness which does not allow men to hide their sins.

But what happens if our consciences become seared? The word seared in the Greek gives us our word cauterize. When skin or a nerve is cauterized, it is destroyed by burning.

so that it now becomes insensitive. It no longer feels. And just so John Stodd adds, a cauterized conscience has been anesthetized, even deadened.

It no longer feels guilt so that the individual no longer accepts his or her accountability to God. This is the most grievious of developments. The seared or cauterized conscience no longer accuses the sinner before God, but rather excuses him.

But how does this happen? Well, it happens the more we stifle the warnings of our consciences regarding sin and resist the voice of the Holy Spirit in scripture. Another way of saying this is each time we sin, sinning becomes easier.

Each time we sin and do not heed the conscience's warning by turning to the Lord and heartfelt repentance and seeking his strength to walk in obedience, our conscience is eroded. And when this happens multiple times, especially as it relates to a particular sin, our consciences eventually shut down. They become desensitized.

They stop sending us warnings. We stop feeling the appropriate guilt and shame for how we have offended God's holiness. And instead, we accept the sinful behavior as the new norm.

Such was the case with these false teachers. In contrast, Paul tells Timothy in chapter 1 verse5, "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart in a good conscience and a sincere faith." By rejecting these, Paul says, "Some have made shipwreck of their faith." A good conscience is one that remains ever sensitive to God's word and spirit. Friends, you and I should be very, very concerned if we ever find that our sin is no longer troubling to us.

You and I should be terrified if we find ourselves regarding our sin but likely and making excuses for it instead of our consciences driving us to our knees in humble and heartfelt repentance. Let us pray continually for God to soften our hearts and to make our consciences increasively increasingly sensitive to him. In Psalm 81:13, the Lord says, "Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways." The third point that we draw from our text is a counterfeit holiness through aseticism.

A counterfeit holiness through aseticism. In verse three, we see that these false teachers were forbidding those in the church to marry and requiring that they abstain from certain foods. This is a form of aseticism.

Aseticism is the rejection of certain things under the guise that by doing this we will become more holy. Now, the church of Christ throughout its history has been riddled with aesthetics. Some of these misguided individuals were the desert fathers of the third and fourth centuries.

These men isolated themselves in the Egyptian desert. They lived in caves. They fasted for unhealthy periods of time.

And when they did eat, they would eat morsels of bread and a little bit of water. They intentionally wore very rough and uncomfortable clothing. They slept on the ground and took vows of silence.

Their aim was to deny themselves of all pleasures of this life. Now, virtually all the commentators I read agree that aesthetic teachers in Ephesus were influenced by a very early form ofnosticism. Gnosticism had not been fully developed by this point but by an early form which asserted that the spiritual is good while the material or the physical is bad and that includes the body.

And the way to cultivate the spirit to be really spiritual was by denying the body of any physical pleasure and subjecting it to increasing hardships. And as I said, they singled out two things. First was marriage.

And really, the issue was not marriage, but the expression of intimacy between a husband and wife within the marriage covenant. That's what was really the issue. And second, they required abstinence from certain foods.

We don't know what those foods were. I'm willing to bet it wasn't something easy like giving up liver. But they thought that by denying and abstaining from the physical, this would promote a heightened spirituality and holiness in one's life.

Ironically, Paul has already described these teachers as insincere and hypocritical liars. And so it is quite possible that even as they advocated these things for others, they did not actually practice what they preached. As you may be able to tell, the issue here is sanctification.

How does or how do Christians grow in holiness and godliness? And the aesthetic says you do so by selfdenial. Now without a doubt self-denial is a key aspect of Christian disciplehip.

Jesus said that if anyone would come after him they must deny themselves and take up their cross. But to reduce self-denial to a few creature comforts of this life is to entirely miss the point. Jesus wasn't say deny yourself of this thing or that.

He was saying deny yourself. Renounce your self-ruule, your self-will, your self- glory, your self-reliance, and your self-destructive God dishonoring pursuit of sin and instead acknowledge Christ and Christ alone as the preeminent Lord of your life. It's also true that as a part of spiritual discipline and training ourselves for godliness, we may refrain from certain things for a time.

This for instance is what we do when we practice the biblical discipline of fasting for a limited period and coupling that with prayer. But neither of these is what the false teachers in Ephesus were advocating. They were advocating the perpetual denial of good things given by God for our enjoyment and subsequent praise to him.

They were subjecting the people to man-made rules. And to make such rules a necessity for spiritual growth is to at least indirectly suggest that Christ is not sufficient in his provision for the Christian life and that we must add our own human regulations. Colossians 2:20 and 21, Paul writes, [snorts] "If with Christ you die to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive to the world, do you submit to regulations, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch." These are baseless and unbiblical rules that only curb the believer's freedom in Christ.

Instead, to you who look to Christ in faith, he has provided you with all things needful for your spiritual growth. He has redeemed you by his shed blood. He has imparted you the Holy Spirit who indwells you and gives you strength to walk in faith.

He gives you the church, the household of God to nurture and to encourage you. He gives you the ordinary means of grace in the word, the sacraments and prayer. And were you to need anything more than this, he certainly would have provided it.

So beware of those who invent new methods and means that promise greater spiritual growth, but actually are unbiblical lies, demonic in their origin, that deny the sufficiency of Christ and his provision. not only to save you but also to sanctify you and grow you in his likeness. But there is another reason why the aestheticism of these false teachers was wrong.

And that brings us to our fourth point. The goodness of God's gifts. The goodness of his gifts.

In verse four, Paul writes,"For everything created by God is good." Paul is intentionally echoing the words of Genesis 1 and that often repeated description of the goodness of God's work of creation. And then verse 31, at the close of the sixth and final day, we hear the capstone statement. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

This includes both marriage and the union between a husband and wife in marriage and the food that we eat the false teachers in Ephesus were forbidding. In Genesis 2, we see that God instituted marriage for the welfare and the happiness of mankind. In Hebrews 13:4, we are told that marriage is honorable.

And it is only by the marriage relationship between a man and a woman that God's mandate to fulfill and to multiply will happen. Now, in Matthew 19:12, Jesus speaks of some who may voluntarily remain unmarried for the sake of the kingdom. This would have described Paul himself.

It would have been quite difficult for Paul to have maintained a marriage and properly honor his wife during the more than two decades that he was an itinerate evangelist and preacher and planter of churches apostle. But even this is not required nor does it cause someone to attain greater spiritual heights. In addition to marriage being a good part of God's creation, so is food.

Psalm 104:14 says, "You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen men man's heart." Psalm 145:15 adds, "The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season." Neither marriage nor food is to be denied or renounced. These are among God's good gifts, expressions of his common grace to all. But let me also add, as a result of the fall, even God's good gifts can be abused and misused.

Wine that gladdens the heart is good. Wine that leads to a drunken stouper is not. One of Satan's most diabolical works is to take God's good gifts and so twist them in human hearts and minds that they look nothing like what God originally designed.

Consider, for instance, how things like pornography and fornication twist and warp God's good gift of sexual relations limited to a husband and a wife. In addition, John Sto makes the point that not everything has been unsullied from the creator's hands or excuse me has come unsullied from the creator's hands. And so we need discernment to know what in our human experience is attributable to the creation and what to the fall.

He relates this to the issue of homosexuality and the person who says God made me this way and therefore I'm going to celebrate it. But Sto counters with this no what God created was male and female with heterosexual marriage as the intended consequence. It is no more appropriate to celebrate homosexuality than other disordered human tendencies which are due to the fall.

So we must be careful not to confuse creation and fall, order and disorder, but rather to ensure that we celebrate only what God created and thankfully receive only what he gives. This leads us then to the final point. The true path to holiness in the Christian life includes not the rejection of God's good gifts, but their enjoyment with thanksgiving.

Look at verse four. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. As you and I enjoy God's manifold gifts that reflect his goodness and we respond in thanksgiving, we are glorifying God.

To reject them is to impugn God's goodness and to insult him. But to receive them with joy and return to him our thanks is to show him the honor that he is due. I love what John Calvin said.

It is a beastly thing when we sit down at table without any prayer and when we have eaten to the full depart in utter forgetfulness of God. Do you know who does that? My dog.

And so do I sometimes when I'm more interested in the gift than acknowledging the goodness of the giver. Paul closes in verse five. For it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

It refers to God's good gifts. But in this case especially the focus here is on food. Our food is made holy in the sense that it is set apart for God's intended purpose and this by two things.

First is the word of God which is God's word by which he has decreed it to be good. And second is prayer, likely referring to prayers of thanksgiving by which we gratefully recognize him as the giver of every good and perfect gift. In just a moment, we are going to come to the table of our Lord and we are going to enjoy with him food for our souls that he has prepared for us.

We will receive the bread and the fruit of the vine. God's good gifts for which we must give thanks. But much more than that, we will give thanks for what they convey to us.

And to those who look to him with eyes of faith, our Savior's body broken, his blood poured out for our sake. For this is God's greatest gift, Christ Jesus the Son, who is not to be denied or to be rejected by any, but is to be savored and to be enjoyed by all who look to him for their salvation. Let's pray.

Our gracious and good father, we rejoice in your goodness to us through your creation and all that you provide for us in our well-being and body and soul. Help us to always receive it with thanksgiving to you. Guard us against false notions of greater spiritual growth and man-made rules when Christ has already given us all things for growth if we would but avail ourselves of them.

Lastly, we do pray that you would cultivate within us a clean conscience informed by the word and spirit ever sensitive to you so that we would despise sin and pursue righteousness. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Please take out your hymn book once again and we are going to sing hymn number 427. Amidst us our beloved stands. We'll sing verses 1, 2, and three.

Please stand with me. is >> [music] >> See? You may be seated.

As I mentioned in the sermon, God has given us the Lord's supper as a means of grace to strengthen us and to encourage us in our faith and walk with Christ. As the bread and the cup nourish our bodies, so we feed by faith upon Christ, such that his body and his blood give spiritual nourishment to our souls and help us to grow in grace. Here we have at this table a visible sermon.

The gospel presented in the beauty of Christ who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory. But this meal is no mere memorial service for one who has died. Rather, this is a family meal around a table in which the living Lord has come as host to suck with his people.

And this we do in anticipation of his promised return when they will come from north and south and east and west and sit together with him in his consummated kingdom. If you have been baptized and are a member in good standing with a bibleelving church on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ, I welcome you to this table. Yet let none of us come without having carefully examined ourselves of our knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of our faith defeat upon him, and of our repentance and love and new obedience, lest we come and bring judgment upon ourselves.

And if you are not a believer, we do ask you to please let the elements pass you by as the sacraments have been given by Christ to his church. And the benefits are received only by faith. And to receive the sacraments apart from faith is to invite God's judgment upon oneself.

Let's bow together in prayer. Our great father, we give thanks and praise for this sacrament by which you bestow grace to your elect, renewing us within. Teach us again the nature of this sacrament as a seal and a pledge of love, that Christ is faithful to make himself a present reality to his own who are guests at this table.

Assure us by it that his word is made good to our faith. that by sacramental union he is given to us. We shall have strength not to fall into sin.

That his life begun in us will be perfected hereafter. That his new covenant with us is confirmed. That he gives himself to all who take him thankfully.

Father, we repent of our sins, our lukewarm faith, our lack of love for you and for one another. our hardened hearts. Forgive us, we pray, as we approach Christ's table and fill us with all grace in him.

Lord Jesus, please take these elements and set them apart for your holy use. As the bread and the cup nourish our bodies, so may your indwelling spirit invigorate our souls with your body and your blood to continue this holy pilgrimage and journey of faith. and cause us to savor this meal as a foretaste of that heavenly banquet that we will one day enjoy with you in your consummated kingdom.

We pray all this in your holy name. Amen. The scriptures teach us that on the night in which Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread and after giving thanks, he broke it and he gave it to his disciples saying, "This is my body that is broken for you.

take and eat and do this in remembrance of me. And in the same manner, after supper, he took the cup and he said, "This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink it, do it in remembrance of me." And then the Apostle Paul tells us that as often as we eat the bread and we drink the cup, we proclaim our Lord's death until he comes again.

Friends, these are the gifts of God. He gives them to you, the people of God. As the elements are distributed, please hold them so that we may take them as one body.

Let us receive the Lord's supper. The body of Christ, the bread of heaven. Take Blood of Christ, cup of salvation.

Take and drink. Let's pray together. Satisfied, oh God, we are.

We have tasted and seen that you are good. Happy are all who find refuge in you. Send us forth now in the name of your son, empowered by your holy spirit, to herald the good news that Christ the Lord is risen, Christ reigns, and Christ is coming again.

Through him we pray. Amen. Let's stand together and sing the final verse of the hymn we were just singing, number 427.

Amidst us, our beloved stands. Glorious. Please come back and join us tonight for our evening service at five o'clock as we end the Lord's day in praise and thanksgiving to him.

Receive now God's good benediction. Go now in the power of the Holy Spirit to love and to serve the Lord. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with each of you now and forever more.

Amen.