WEBVTT 00:00:00.270 --> 00:00:06.349 I want this week to do a bit of follow -up from 00:00:06.349 --> 00:00:09.910 Darren's sermon last week. How many of you remember 00:00:09.910 --> 00:00:16.030 what Darren preached about last week? Go ahead, 00:00:16.109 --> 00:00:20.850 everybody. Okay, zeal. You sounded very zealous 00:00:20.850 --> 00:00:25.410 as you informed me of what he preached on. We're 00:00:25.410 --> 00:00:27.309 going to have to work on your zeal, I think. 00:00:28.589 --> 00:00:33.670 So he preached on zeal, and he did that out of 00:00:33.670 --> 00:00:37.429 2 Kings chapter 13, and I'll just quickly read 00:00:37.429 --> 00:00:39.990 this verse. You can go back and listen to it 00:00:39.990 --> 00:00:43.950 online if you missed it, but it was where Elisha 00:00:43.950 --> 00:00:46.689 had become, he was on his deathbed. Elisha the 00:00:46.689 --> 00:00:50.289 prophet was about to die, and King Joash is coming 00:00:50.289 --> 00:00:55.609 to him. He's coming to be sad with him, to grieve, 00:00:55.630 --> 00:00:59.140 but also often the kings of old would go to the 00:00:59.140 --> 00:01:02.039 prophet to receive some direction from the Lord 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:06.260 on what they should do. And so he was still at 00:01:06.260 --> 00:01:09.379 the place of needing direction. One final thing, 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:11.920 Elisha, before you die, what should I do about 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.900 the Syrians? And so he got some direction, and 00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:20.140 at the end of the direction, in 2 Kings 13, verse 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:25.260 18, He had told him, take the arrows. So he took 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:28.060 the arrows and he said to the king of Israel, 00:01:28.219 --> 00:01:32.319 strike the ground. So he struck three times and 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:36.659 stopped. And the man of God was angry with him 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:40.819 and said, you should have struck five or six 00:01:40.819 --> 00:01:45.019 times. He was not happy with this half -hearted 00:01:45.019 --> 00:01:50.900 striking the ground. Okay, one, two, three. That 00:01:50.900 --> 00:01:57.459 made Elisha mad. No. He said, you should have 00:01:57.459 --> 00:02:00.159 struck it five or six times, then you would have 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:04.340 struck Syria till you had destroyed it. But now 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:07.180 you will only strike Syria three times. It's 00:02:07.180 --> 00:02:09.699 interesting he doesn't say, you should have done 00:02:09.699 --> 00:02:12.159 it five or six times, and then you would have 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:17.259 struck Syria five or six times. No, he said you 00:02:17.259 --> 00:02:20.300 would have struck Syria until it was destroyed, 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:22.860 which in my mind I'm thinking could have taken 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:27.780 10, 20 times, but there was no limit if he had 00:02:27.780 --> 00:02:30.360 been wholehearted in his striking the ground. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:34.020 But because he was half -hearted, he was limited 00:02:34.020 --> 00:02:38.439 to his half -heartedness the three times. Wow, 00:02:38.539 --> 00:02:40.280 I didn't even get that. That just came to me 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:42.800 just now. I didn't even get that in my preparation 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:46.740 time, but that's mind -blowing to me. It really 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:50.439 doesn't matter how many times he would have struck 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:54.479 it had he done it in zeal. If he had done it 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:57.719 just the five times, but with a heart of zeal, 00:02:57.939 --> 00:03:00.740 there would not have been any limit on how often 00:03:00.740 --> 00:03:03.360 they would have struck Syria. They just know 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:06.939 they would have destroyed Syria. But because 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:10.280 he was half -hearted and lacked zeal, he was 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:17.800 limited by his zeal. You should chew on that 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:19.979 this week. I'm going to chew on that this week. 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:25.719 So that was Darren's sermon last week. What I 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:30.500 want us to follow up this week is how to sustain 00:03:30.500 --> 00:03:37.319 zeal. Many of you responded to the altar time 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:43.240 for zeal. I want to be zealous for God. And many 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:46.360 of you came forward. To say, yes, I want that. 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:51.039 Now, I love a good altar encounter just like 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:55.199 anybody else. And I can look back on my life 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:00.860 and recall significant altar moments where God 00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:05.639 did amazing things in my life. But where the 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:10.639 transformation in my life happened took place 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:15.280 as after the encounter, I took it home to walk 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:18.980 it out. And to be honest, I can recall specific 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:23.100 encounters where I'm in the encounter and I am 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:26.259 also thinking, I don't want to go home and wake 00:04:26.259 --> 00:04:29.660 up Monday morning because I'll have to deal with 00:04:29.660 --> 00:04:34.459 reality. I'm in this heavenly zone right now. 00:04:35.449 --> 00:04:38.110 Where I don't have to face a spouse. I don't 00:04:38.110 --> 00:04:41.350 have to face a child. I don't have to face my 00:04:41.350 --> 00:04:44.470 finances or my health. Jesus, could you just 00:04:44.470 --> 00:04:48.389 take me now? Let's all just be raptured right 00:04:48.389 --> 00:04:51.350 now in glory. Wouldn't that be wonderful? But 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:55.829 no, I had to go home and walk it out. And so 00:04:55.829 --> 00:04:58.870 the God encounters, the breakthroughs have been 00:04:58.870 --> 00:05:04.339 significant for me. But the significance only 00:05:04.339 --> 00:05:08.360 goes as far as we walk it out Monday, Tuesday, 00:05:08.540 --> 00:05:12.180 Wednesday. And so I want us to, for a few moments 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:15.560 here, look at three areas that are going to help 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:20.420 us not just say, yes, I want to be zealous, but 00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:25.279 how can I sustain it in life? And so we're going 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:28.199 to look in Galatians chapter 4 this morning. 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:31.680 And we're going to be starting in verse 17. But 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:34.579 I want you to understand some of the issues that 00:05:34.579 --> 00:05:38.060 Paul is addressing with the Galatian church. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.980 You have to remember that there is this new covenant. 00:05:43.699 --> 00:05:48.500 Once Jesus was resurrected and ascended, a new 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:52.120 covenant was put in place. And you have to remember 00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:55.500 that as part of that, things like Peter having 00:05:55.500 --> 00:06:00.240 a vision of all of the unclean food and realizing 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:04.740 it's all been made clean now. And so they had 00:06:04.740 --> 00:06:08.860 this huge shift in culture. All of these rules 00:06:08.860 --> 00:06:13.240 and laws that had identified who Israel was, 00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:17.899 who the Jewish people were, are now a whole nother 00:06:17.899 --> 00:06:20.430 thing. And they're having to learn what that 00:06:20.430 --> 00:06:24.550 looks like in the New Testament, where we are 00:06:24.550 --> 00:06:31.129 free now. We can eat what we want now, right? 00:06:31.509 --> 00:06:35.329 This is, I mean, if we think about how hard we 00:06:35.329 --> 00:06:40.170 have sometimes with change, I know a lot of times 00:06:40.170 --> 00:06:43.629 people, oh, I want. Like Darren often likes to 00:06:43.629 --> 00:06:46.370 bring out songs from the 80s and I'll roll my 00:06:46.370 --> 00:06:50.129 eyes at him because those are his preference, 00:06:50.370 --> 00:06:55.410 right? And so sometimes just little things are 00:06:55.410 --> 00:06:59.529 hard for us in change. Can you imagine when it 00:06:59.529 --> 00:07:02.389 has been for thousands of years a cultural identity? 00:07:03.730 --> 00:07:07.750 And now all of it is permissible. Not at all 00:07:07.750 --> 00:07:11.040 beneficial, but it's permissible. And so what 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.680 they began to experience in that early church 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:17.980 were teachers, false teachers coming in that 00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:22.220 were trying to get them to come back to living 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:26.579 according to the law. And Paul had no tolerance 00:07:26.579 --> 00:07:30.300 for it because what that says is, is that the 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:34.610 sacrifice of Christ is not enough. It says that 00:07:34.610 --> 00:07:38.129 we also have to fulfill all the law as well as 00:07:38.129 --> 00:07:41.230 have the sacrifice of Christ. And he had no tolerance 00:07:41.230 --> 00:07:44.269 for it. And so they were trying to seduce them 00:07:44.269 --> 00:07:50.329 back into bondage. That's what's happening in 00:07:50.329 --> 00:07:56.089 Galatians. And so in Galatians 4 .17, it says 00:07:56.089 --> 00:08:02.589 those people are zealous to win you over. It's 00:08:02.589 --> 00:08:04.449 not just that they were trying to woo them back. 00:08:04.490 --> 00:08:11.250 They were zealous to win them over. But for no 00:08:11.250 --> 00:08:17.829 good. What they want is to alienate you from 00:08:17.829 --> 00:08:24.329 us so that you may have zeal for them. They wanted 00:08:24.329 --> 00:08:29.189 a transference of affection, of zeal, of loyalty. 00:08:30.379 --> 00:08:35.899 To them and their teaching. And he goes on to 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:42.200 say, here is our primary text. It is fine to 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:50.580 be zealous. Provided the purpose is good. And 00:08:50.580 --> 00:08:55.220 he gives a second qualification. And to be so 00:08:55.220 --> 00:09:01.950 always. not just when I am with you. Okay, so 00:09:01.950 --> 00:09:05.110 here's what happens. Paul would show up. Okay, 00:09:05.149 --> 00:09:07.970 here's what it's like. It's like when our new 00:09:07.970 --> 00:09:13.470 superintendent last fall called Darren on a Saturday 00:09:13.470 --> 00:09:15.950 night and said, hey, I'm going to be at your 00:09:15.950 --> 00:09:21.029 church tomorrow. And then it was me texting our 00:09:21.029 --> 00:09:24.809 leadership team saying, hey, the superintendent's 00:09:24.809 --> 00:09:27.049 going to be here tomorrow. Everybody on their 00:09:27.049 --> 00:09:32.960 toes. This is what it was like for Paul. He would 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:36.879 come to town to visit the churches, and they 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:40.799 would all, their zeal and their faith, yeah. 00:09:42.139 --> 00:09:45.059 And then he would leave town, and what would 00:09:45.059 --> 00:09:49.899 happen? Would get lax again. Oh, the little things 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:56.139 don't matter. Oh, the... The spiders that I see 00:09:56.139 --> 00:09:59.000 if I know that the superintendent's coming, I'm 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:01.419 checking for. But I don't care if you got to 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:05.059 come to the altar and face the spider web. This 00:10:05.059 --> 00:10:09.120 is what was happening. They had zeal when Paul 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:12.679 was with them, but their zeal waned when he was 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:15.879 not. And he's saying, listen, it's good to be 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:20.019 zealous. But you have to have a good purpose 00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:25.720 and you have to always. Be zealous. You have 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:31.340 to have a zeal that is not a roller coaster ride. 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:39.700 What it comes down to is this. There is an inward 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:46.820 stimuli and an outward stimuli. And so what they 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:50.340 were experiencing in the Galatian church, Paul 00:10:50.340 --> 00:10:53.970 was their stimuli. And so when Paul, and he was 00:10:53.970 --> 00:10:57.629 an outward, when Paul came, it stimulated them 00:10:57.629 --> 00:11:02.409 to zeal. But they did not have an inward stimuli 00:11:02.409 --> 00:11:08.389 to spur them on towards zeal. And to sustain 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:12.470 zeal, there's this transference that has to happen. 00:11:12.490 --> 00:11:15.529 And I think it is really the place of maturity, 00:11:15.929 --> 00:11:24.110 becoming spiritually mature. anybody that has 00:11:24.110 --> 00:11:27.549 children. And we don't just leave the children 00:11:27.549 --> 00:11:32.029 to raise themselves, do we? Few of them are going 00:11:32.029 --> 00:11:36.830 to have the inward stimulation to eat their vegetables, 00:11:37.149 --> 00:11:39.850 clean their room, treat people, share their toys. 00:11:41.009 --> 00:11:45.269 That's why they have parents to provide the outward 00:11:45.269 --> 00:11:49.370 stimulation toward that, right? Maturity, hopefully 00:11:49.370 --> 00:11:54.639 as they become adults, They will begin of their 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:58.299 own accord without you overseeing it, will be 00:11:58.299 --> 00:12:03.340 stimulated to be kind to people, to clean their 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:07.740 stuff, to do their laundry, to manage their finances, 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:13.720 right? It is a process of maturity. And so there's 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:17.940 nothing wrong with needing outward stimulus in 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:23.190 our zeal. But the goal is that we begin to grow 00:12:23.190 --> 00:12:28.309 up into it coming from within. I don't need to 00:12:28.309 --> 00:12:32.529 call an elder or the pastor in this moment. Not 00:12:32.529 --> 00:12:34.450 that there's anything wrong with that. I call 00:12:34.450 --> 00:12:38.210 people to pray for me. But it shouldn't be every 00:12:38.210 --> 00:12:42.629 day. It should be, I know what it is within me 00:12:42.629 --> 00:12:46.899 to reach out into heaven. And it's a place of 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:50.879 spiritual growth and maturity. I think this word 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.039 zeal is interesting because there is emotion 00:12:54.039 --> 00:12:58.460 attached to it, right? We do feel some emotion 00:12:58.460 --> 00:13:03.720 and zeal. If I'm zealous for something, it should 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:08.159 encompass my mind. It should encompass my emotions 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:11.740 and my body, my actions. And I think of the word 00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:16.480 is very similar is passion. And I remember years 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.000 and years ago at a women's conference at my mother's 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.720 church, sitting with a group of women, and one 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:26.059 woman going on about how passionate she was. 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:33.960 And what she meant is that she is an emotionally 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:39.100 passionate. She liked wild colored hair. She 00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:47.220 really meant zest for life. zestful person. Loud. 00:13:47.419 --> 00:13:51.620 She liked crazy. In her mind, that was passion. 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:55.620 But what I find interesting is that the word 00:13:55.620 --> 00:13:59.700 passion is actually an English word that comes 00:13:59.700 --> 00:14:04.899 from Latin, passio. And do you know what that 00:14:04.899 --> 00:14:12.909 word means? Suffering. It means suffering. It 00:14:12.909 --> 00:14:17.409 was not until about 1200 that the word passion 00:14:17.409 --> 00:14:23.570 entered the English vocabulary. In 1200, from 00:14:23.570 --> 00:14:28.029 the Latin word meaning suffering and endurance. 00:14:28.149 --> 00:14:31.250 It's where we get the term the passion of Christ. 00:14:31.950 --> 00:14:35.950 Because what was Christ doing? Suffering and 00:14:35.950 --> 00:14:40.149 enduring. And so we hear these terms like zeal 00:14:40.149 --> 00:14:46.259 and passion. And they're good. But I think we 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:50.299 have a false conception of what it means. That 00:14:50.299 --> 00:14:52.519 I'm always going to feel like worshiping. I'm 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:55.759 always going to feel joy. I'm always, that is 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:58.460 zeal and that is passion. And the truth is that 00:14:58.460 --> 00:15:03.059 it usually means suffering and endurance. Aren't 00:15:03.059 --> 00:15:05.799 you excited? I think you liked Darren's sermon 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:11.509 on zeal better than this one. Here's what made 00:15:11.509 --> 00:15:13.889 me begin to think about this while he was preaching 00:15:13.889 --> 00:15:19.289 last week. I began to think of 9 -11. And do 00:15:19.289 --> 00:15:22.870 you know what happened? And if you all follow 00:15:22.870 --> 00:15:25.629 anything in the church world, we had so many 00:15:25.629 --> 00:15:28.710 articles and so many people talking about this. 00:15:28.870 --> 00:15:32.129 What happened following 9 -11 was an influx into 00:15:32.129 --> 00:15:36.730 the church. And now where are the people? It 00:15:36.730 --> 00:15:40.220 doesn't last long. It made me think of Charlie 00:15:40.220 --> 00:15:44.639 Kirk. Because what happened after Charlie Kirk's 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:50.440 death? An influx into the church. I know we had 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.460 some, and I haven't seen them in months and months. 00:15:54.980 --> 00:16:01.580 I think of Gary. And do you know how many people 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:05.200 Darren and I talked to after Gary passed that 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:09.169 felt... Ah, Gary has gone. People need to rise 00:16:09.169 --> 00:16:13.610 up now because Gary's gone. They need to walk 00:16:13.610 --> 00:16:16.850 his shoes. They need to fill his shoes. And they 00:16:16.850 --> 00:16:19.029 began to come to church and they began to rise 00:16:19.029 --> 00:16:27.169 up. And slowly they're here less and less. What 00:16:27.169 --> 00:16:32.049 is that? That is outward stimuli. There were 00:16:32.049 --> 00:16:37.840 these moments that fanned zeal. that fanned passion. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:42.399 And then we lose, we get away from the immediate 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:47.240 feelings of grief, of fear, the immediate feelings 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:52.100 of how close we are to eternity, how fleeting 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:55.799 this life is. We get further and further away 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:59.120 from that. And what happens? The zeal begins 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:05.759 to wane. The passion begins to wane. And I know 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.279 I'm really kind of preaching to the choir today 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:12.579 because you guys are coming day in and day out. 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:18.460 You're a zealous people. So I know that in a 00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:20.980 lot of ways I'm preaching to the choir, but I 00:17:20.980 --> 00:17:25.220 want to encourage you in it because the temptation 00:17:25.220 --> 00:17:31.180 is. I told Pastor Araya this morning, I kind 00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:35.019 of wanted to just stay in my sweatpants today. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:40.539 I was so tired and after the accident and I was 00:17:40.539 --> 00:17:43.099 just, I could just really just sleep in today. 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:50.119 But there's a passion that drives me. There's 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:57.420 a zeal that drives me. And no longer. Are they 00:17:57.420 --> 00:18:04.619 subject to what is happening in life? Pastor 00:18:04.619 --> 00:18:10.059 Gary may have lit a flame, but I've done the 00:18:10.059 --> 00:18:13.799 job to blow on the flame, to feed the flame, 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:21.089 to sustain the flame, right? And so there are 00:18:21.089 --> 00:18:23.349 three things I want us to quickly walk through, 00:18:23.430 --> 00:18:25.569 and then we're going to conclude around the table 00:18:25.569 --> 00:18:29.950 of the Lord. How to sustain zeal in your life. 00:18:31.410 --> 00:18:36.250 And the first way to do it is to guard the direction 00:18:36.250 --> 00:18:40.789 of your heart. These are going to be three very 00:18:40.789 --> 00:18:44.670 simple things, but if you think about how you 00:18:44.670 --> 00:18:49.130 feed fire, It's very simple things. You feed 00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:51.970 it some wood. You blow on it a little bit. Give 00:18:51.970 --> 00:18:55.109 it some oxygen. Sometimes you give it a stir. 00:18:55.509 --> 00:18:59.690 It's not complicated, but it will sustain your 00:18:59.690 --> 00:19:04.170 fire. And so these are three simple ways. They 00:19:04.170 --> 00:19:07.730 don't sound very profound, but if you want to 00:19:07.730 --> 00:19:11.349 sustain zeal in your life, there's no getting 00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:14.829 around them. And the first one is guarding the 00:19:14.829 --> 00:19:18.259 direction of your heart. I want us to go to Proverbs 00:19:18.259 --> 00:19:23.079 23, and I'm going to read verse 19, and then 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:24.980 we're going to back up a little bit. But I want 00:19:24.980 --> 00:19:29.079 to start in verse 19. And he says, hear my son 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:32.619 and be wise. Now, how many of you want to be 00:19:32.619 --> 00:19:40.460 wise? I want to be wise. And guide your heart 00:19:40.460 --> 00:19:43.720 in the way. That's what it says. I love that. 00:19:44.339 --> 00:19:50.500 Guide your heart in the way. We're talking about 00:19:50.500 --> 00:19:53.980 the way of the Lord. What this means is that 00:19:53.980 --> 00:19:57.859 you are not subject to people. You are not subject 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:01.299 to circumstances. You have the power and the 00:20:01.299 --> 00:20:05.400 authority to guide your heart in the way it should 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:12.609 go. You are not a victim. In trauma, in problems, 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:17.430 in difficulty, you are empowered to guide your 00:20:17.430 --> 00:20:23.529 heart in the direction of the way. I love that. 00:20:23.549 --> 00:20:25.730 That's what they called the new believers in 00:20:25.730 --> 00:20:31.690 the New Testament. Followers of the way. Guide 00:20:31.690 --> 00:20:36.829 your heart in the way. And so let's go back. 00:20:36.869 --> 00:20:38.789 It's going to tell us a little bit how to do 00:20:38.789 --> 00:20:42.470 that in verse 17. Two ways to guard the direction 00:20:42.470 --> 00:20:47.329 of your heart. One is to guide it away from the 00:20:47.329 --> 00:20:53.670 loves of this age. This is where zeal begins 00:20:53.670 --> 00:20:57.849 to wane. When the things of this present age 00:20:57.849 --> 00:21:04.819 become all -consuming. And suddenly our heart 00:21:04.819 --> 00:21:09.440 is tangled up in it. And verse 17 says, do not 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:15.660 let your heart envy sinners. You're seeing all 00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:18.140 of the people at your work that don't follow 00:21:18.140 --> 00:21:22.740 the way of God. They're all flourishing, making 00:21:22.740 --> 00:21:26.599 money, have kids, doing amazing things. And you 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:30.829 just see hardship, hardship, hardship. Do not 00:21:30.829 --> 00:21:34.990 let your heart envy sinners. I love what Kathy 00:21:34.990 --> 00:21:41.069 said. All that is needed, the salvation of my 00:21:41.069 --> 00:21:48.150 soul. But be zealous for the fear of the Lord 00:21:48.150 --> 00:21:54.609 all, everybody say all, all the day. What did 00:21:54.609 --> 00:21:57.789 Paul say? If you're going to be zealous, be so 00:21:57.789 --> 00:22:05.440 always. Be so always. So, do not envy the sinners 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:09.720 in your heart and be zealous for the fear of 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:16.740 the Lord all the day. And the second is to guide 00:22:16.740 --> 00:22:22.059 your heart toward its eternal destination. Verse 00:22:22.059 --> 00:22:27.000 18. For surely, here's your hope, surely there 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:31.099 is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut 00:22:31.099 --> 00:22:36.240 off. This is why we are continually saying, look 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.579 to his coming. Look to the next life. Don't get 00:22:40.579 --> 00:22:43.539 too settled here on earth because we want our 00:22:43.539 --> 00:22:48.480 eyes continually on the prize. Our hope is not 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:52.960 in overcoming in this age. Our hope is in overcoming 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:57.880 death and forever overcoming with Christ. This 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:01.500 is our hope. And so when we are guiding our heart, 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:05.339 See, the enemy would want you to focus on getting 00:23:05.339 --> 00:23:09.059 rooted here on this earth. And then there comes 00:23:09.059 --> 00:23:12.619 a moment when you realize those roots don't go 00:23:12.619 --> 00:23:17.119 very deep. In a moment it ends, and then everything 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:25.299 you've built for this life is done. Our heart 00:23:25.299 --> 00:23:28.519 gets, the enemy wants your heart to be consumed 00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:34.289 with this life. And it's not bad, and I'm all 00:23:34.289 --> 00:23:38.710 about stewarding it well. But I'm stewarding 00:23:38.710 --> 00:23:41.809 it for his kingdom. I'm stewarding it on my way 00:23:41.809 --> 00:23:46.589 to where my heart, that's where my heart has 00:23:46.589 --> 00:23:50.589 been placed. I've guided my heart, and I've said, 00:23:50.630 --> 00:23:53.750 heart, you don't belong here. Heart, you belong 00:23:53.750 --> 00:23:58.769 in eternity. And so I am guiding everything toward 00:23:58.769 --> 00:24:08.049 where my heart is destined in eternity. Romans 00:24:08.049 --> 00:24:12.529 12, there's one little verse, and the beauty 00:24:12.529 --> 00:24:15.089 of the New Testament is there's a lot of writings 00:24:15.089 --> 00:24:19.730 on how to live this life. There is a lot of practical, 00:24:19.849 --> 00:24:22.970 you're children of the light, here's how you 00:24:22.970 --> 00:24:26.390 live as children of the light. You're a Christian, 00:24:26.630 --> 00:24:29.029 here's how you live as a Christian. Here's how 00:24:29.029 --> 00:24:32.569 you treat people as a Christian. There's so much 00:24:32.569 --> 00:24:35.670 writing in the New Testament concerning how to 00:24:35.670 --> 00:24:39.740 do that. And in the middle of that, in Romans 00:24:39.740 --> 00:24:42.220 chapter 12, there's a whole passage on that, 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:45.880 how to treat people. It says in verse 11, never 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:51.539 be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor 00:24:51.539 --> 00:24:59.440 serving the Lord. Again, a choice here. If I 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:03.380 can get you to see this, that you have choice. 00:25:05.230 --> 00:25:10.950 That you can decide your spiritual fervor. That 00:25:10.950 --> 00:25:13.650 nobody's going to decide it for you. That nobody 00:25:13.650 --> 00:25:16.490 can take it from you, but also nobody can give 00:25:16.490 --> 00:25:22.450 it. It's up to us to keep our spiritual fervor. 00:25:22.450 --> 00:25:26.049 And we do that by guiding the direction of your 00:25:26.049 --> 00:25:30.650 heart. You can't just let it be and think it's 00:25:30.650 --> 00:25:33.240 going to go where it should go. That would be 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:35.799 like raising children and not directing them. 00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:38.400 You think they're all going to go the way they 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:42.920 should go in that case? No. Our hearts have to 00:25:42.920 --> 00:25:47.220 be governed by our spirit, by our spirit man. 00:25:47.799 --> 00:25:53.759 Our spirit man tells our heart where to go. And 00:25:53.759 --> 00:26:00.480 so we guard the direction of our heart. The second 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:07.799 way we sustain zeal is, again, a choice. We can 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:11.039 guide the direction of our heart, but we also 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:14.259 have to choose how we're going to live. Okay, 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:20.079 that's our second. Choose how you live. In Titus 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:29.779 chapter 2, and starting in verse 11, salvation 00:26:29.779 --> 00:26:35.079 has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying 00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:39.880 ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live 00:26:39.880 --> 00:26:44.819 how? Soberly, righteously, and godly in this 00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:50.400 present age. Again, we're choosing how we're 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:52.960 going to live this life while we wait for the 00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:56.259 glorious return. And we see that in verse 13. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:00.500 Why should we do it? Looking for the blessed 00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:04.579 hope and glorious appearing of our great God 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:10.200 and Savior, Jesus Christ. Do you see the connection 00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:14.220 they keep making in all of these verses? Wherever 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:18.220 it is telling us to keep your fervor, to keep 00:27:18.220 --> 00:27:21.160 your zeal for the Lord, wherever it is telling 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:24.220 us, here you need to say no to the things of 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:27.579 the world, the things that your flesh would like 00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:32.420 to feast on, they are always connecting it with 00:27:32.420 --> 00:27:37.670 the return of Christ. They're not wanting us 00:27:37.670 --> 00:27:41.490 to just do, we're going to suffer to suffer because 00:27:41.490 --> 00:27:43.829 that's what it is to be a Christian. But no, 00:27:43.950 --> 00:27:45.910 what we're doing is we're cutting off things 00:27:45.910 --> 00:27:50.390 that would hinder us in our journey, in our pilgrimage 00:27:50.390 --> 00:27:55.670 to our forever home. And so they always are connecting 00:27:55.670 --> 00:28:01.190 over and over and over again. We do this looking 00:28:01.190 --> 00:28:04.549 for his coming. We do this because he's returning. 00:28:05.150 --> 00:28:09.049 We do this because Jesus is the prize that we 00:28:09.049 --> 00:28:12.910 are going after. Always is the connection. Because 00:28:12.910 --> 00:28:15.150 there's more than what there is to just live 00:28:15.150 --> 00:28:20.269 for in this life. And so we have to choose how 00:28:20.269 --> 00:28:24.990 we're going to live with intentionality. Cannot 00:28:24.990 --> 00:28:30.450 be emotionally driven. We have to be driven by 00:28:30.450 --> 00:28:35.000 the word of God and the ways of God. And so we 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:37.160 guard the direction of our heart and we choose 00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:41.480 how we're going to live life. And here is the 00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:47.299 sweet sauce of sustaining zeal. The third one. 00:28:50.940 --> 00:28:55.619 Live in relationship with the one who is zealous 00:28:55.619 --> 00:29:02.140 for you. Live in relationship with the one who 00:29:02.140 --> 00:29:14.309 already showed us his zeal for us. In Titus chapter 00:29:14.309 --> 00:29:18.069 2, if we look a couple of more verses down, it 00:29:18.069 --> 00:29:22.349 says that he gave himself for us, that he might 00:29:22.349 --> 00:29:27.230 redeem us from every lawless deed and purify 00:29:27.230 --> 00:29:32.740 for himself his own special people. You belong. 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:38.099 I belong to him. It finishes that sentence with 00:29:38.099 --> 00:29:45.319 zealous for good works. Okay, so he redeemed 00:29:45.319 --> 00:29:49.960 us from every lawless deed. He purified us as 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:55.740 his own special people. A people that are zealous 00:29:55.740 --> 00:30:02.009 for good works. I know in your mind you might 00:30:02.009 --> 00:30:03.490 be saying, well, that means that there are things 00:30:03.490 --> 00:30:06.809 I have to do for God. But I would have us go 00:30:06.809 --> 00:30:13.650 to Revelation chapter 2. In Revelation chapter 00:30:13.650 --> 00:30:18.490 2, we have here in this segment, he's addressing 00:30:18.490 --> 00:30:24.349 all the churches in Revelation. And we find ourselves 00:30:24.349 --> 00:30:32.880 at the church of Ephesus. He says in verse 2 00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:37.119 to Ephesus, to the church of Ephesians, I know 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:41.680 your works, okay? Well, we just read that we 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:44.079 should be zealous for good works, and here he's 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:49.460 saying to them, I know your works, your labor, 00:30:49.700 --> 00:30:54.559 your patience, that you cannot bear those who 00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:58.839 are evil. I know that you have tested those who 00:30:58.839 --> 00:31:02.539 say they are apostles and are not and have found 00:31:02.539 --> 00:31:06.740 them liars. And you have persevered and have 00:31:06.740 --> 00:31:11.059 patience and labored for my name's sake and not 00:31:11.059 --> 00:31:15.740 become weary. That sounds like an awesome believer. 00:31:17.220 --> 00:31:21.400 And he's acknowledging their what? Good works. 00:31:24.650 --> 00:31:28.809 And as good as all of that is, still he has something 00:31:28.809 --> 00:31:34.710 against them. Those are not the works that Jesus 00:31:34.710 --> 00:31:42.130 is looking for. He goes on. He says, nevertheless, 00:31:42.490 --> 00:31:48.730 in verse 4, I have this against you. You left 00:31:48.730 --> 00:31:55.369 your first love. And here's our key. Remember, 00:31:55.470 --> 00:31:59.990 therefore, from where you have fallen. Think 00:31:59.990 --> 00:32:07.690 about when you were first saved. Repent and do 00:32:07.690 --> 00:32:14.210 the first works. Interesting. So there were obviously 00:32:14.210 --> 00:32:18.329 works they were doing in the thrush of first 00:32:18.329 --> 00:32:23.599 love. That were different from the works he acknowledged 00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:28.799 at the beginning. As good as those were. They 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:32.059 were not the works that Jesus was looking for. 00:32:33.460 --> 00:32:37.400 Do the first works or else I will come quickly 00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:42.599 and remove your lampstand. What are the works 00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:49.500 of first love? What are the things that you did? 00:32:50.359 --> 00:32:52.359 And the beginning of your marriage that maybe 00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:59.880 40 years later you no longer do. What are those 00:32:59.880 --> 00:33:05.279 things? I think that they are works that are 00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:16.200 works that fostered love interaction. The works 00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:22.789 that maybe You did for one another that 30 years 00:33:22.789 --> 00:33:27.230 later, yeah, you can do those. You don't need 00:33:27.230 --> 00:33:31.930 to do those anymore. There is a work that Jesus 00:33:31.930 --> 00:33:36.329 is looking for from us that is not about your 00:33:36.329 --> 00:33:40.430 labor in the kingdom. As much as I feel like 00:33:40.430 --> 00:33:43.529 he's showing them appreciation for that labor, 00:33:43.710 --> 00:33:49.759 I feel like he is affirming All of the hard things 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:53.019 they've walked through and endured. I feel like 00:33:53.019 --> 00:33:58.420 he's affirming those things. But it's the leaving 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:03.259 behind. If they had just carried the first works 00:34:03.259 --> 00:34:09.289 along with them in the later works. And so I 00:34:09.289 --> 00:34:12.989 think when we go back to our verse in Titus, 00:34:12.989 --> 00:34:16.409 where it says that he purifies for himself his 00:34:16.409 --> 00:34:22.010 own special people, zealous for good works. It 00:34:22.010 --> 00:34:25.710 is a good work that is born out of love affair. 00:34:26.909 --> 00:34:32.590 It is a first work born out of knowing the lover 00:34:32.590 --> 00:34:42.010 of your soul. And to sustain zeal means you've 00:34:42.010 --> 00:34:45.610 got to do the things at the beginning. You've 00:34:45.610 --> 00:34:54.289 got to remain in the first love. You've got to 00:34:54.289 --> 00:34:59.510 remain in, we say that word passion, now I've 00:34:59.510 --> 00:35:02.170 kind of changed that dynamic a little bit, the 00:35:02.170 --> 00:35:08.010 zeal for one another. That you had at the beginning, 00:35:08.230 --> 00:35:15.309 he's looking for in us. And if we will, abide 00:35:15.309 --> 00:35:22.010 in the first love works. How many of you remember 00:35:22.010 --> 00:35:25.389 when you first came to Christ, your zeal for 00:35:25.389 --> 00:35:30.269 the word of God? You couldn't get enough of it. 00:35:32.360 --> 00:35:35.559 Every time the church doors were open, you were 00:35:35.559 --> 00:35:39.239 there. You couldn't get enough. You couldn't 00:35:39.239 --> 00:35:41.480 get enough of one another, the body of Christ. 00:35:43.139 --> 00:35:50.139 First love works. And even if we no longer feel 00:35:50.139 --> 00:35:57.679 that first love, if we will engage in it, in 00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:02.139 those works, do you know what will happen? It's 00:36:02.139 --> 00:36:04.440 kind of like if you're trying to light a fire 00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:09.840 and you cheat and you spray some lighter fluid 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:15.719 on it, right? If you will begin to engage again 00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:20.099 in first love works, Jesus, I'm just going to, 00:36:20.099 --> 00:36:26.980 I'm in my secret place with you. And I am, you 00:36:26.980 --> 00:36:29.099 know, when Darren and I were dating, we didn't 00:36:29.099 --> 00:36:35.349 want other people along. want other people hanging 00:36:35.349 --> 00:36:40.610 out with us. And sometimes we allow into our 00:36:40.610 --> 00:36:45.570 secret place other things, other cares, other 00:36:45.570 --> 00:36:48.469 concerns, other people. And there is a time and 00:36:48.469 --> 00:36:51.050 a place before the throne room for that. But 00:36:51.050 --> 00:36:54.670 there is in the secret place a place where it 00:36:54.670 --> 00:36:58.429 is you and it is Jesus. And you're just there 00:36:58.429 --> 00:37:02.510 to commune and have love relationship. You're 00:37:02.510 --> 00:37:05.420 just there to worship. You're not there thinking 00:37:05.420 --> 00:37:08.420 about all the problems of life. You're just there 00:37:08.420 --> 00:37:13.420 to worship and to commune in love. I guarantee 00:37:13.420 --> 00:37:18.860 you, if you will engage in that, what is that? 00:37:18.940 --> 00:37:23.139 That's first love works. If you will engage in 00:37:23.139 --> 00:37:30.179 that, it will change your zeal. It will change 00:37:30.179 --> 00:37:36.539 your... sustainability of zeal. And as soon as 00:37:36.539 --> 00:37:41.239 I start to feel like I'm away from that, it's 00:37:41.239 --> 00:37:45.500 my sign I need to just get back. I need to forget 00:37:45.500 --> 00:37:49.579 about all of you. I need to forget about all 00:37:49.579 --> 00:37:55.760 of them. I just need to be with the lover of 00:37:55.760 --> 00:38:01.460 my soul. And if we will spend time, nobody can 00:38:01.460 --> 00:38:05.860 give you zeal. You might get inspired by being 00:38:05.860 --> 00:38:09.760 around zealous people, but nobody can sustain 00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:18.380 zeal for you. It is only you and Jesus. There 00:38:18.380 --> 00:38:24.949 is no shortcut. There is no other way. to sustain 00:38:24.949 --> 00:38:28.369 zeal, but to be with the lover of your soul. 00:38:30.530 --> 00:38:34.710 And it's a beautiful call. It's why one of my 00:38:34.710 --> 00:38:38.090 favorite songs right now, we sing it every once 00:38:38.090 --> 00:38:44.889 in a while, is What a God. Because if the highest 00:38:44.889 --> 00:38:52.230 place I reach is at your feet, then I've done 00:38:52.230 --> 00:38:57.340 it all. If the best thing that I've seen is your 00:38:57.340 --> 00:39:05.159 glory, then I've seen it all. And sometimes we 00:39:05.159 --> 00:39:08.019 get awfully distracted even in kingdom and we 00:39:08.019 --> 00:39:11.440 get away from first love. We get away from the 00:39:11.440 --> 00:39:15.500 secret place with just the bridegroom. And the 00:39:15.500 --> 00:39:20.699 bridegroom is calling you back. He's in the secret 00:39:20.699 --> 00:39:26.400 place and he wants to be with you. He wants to 00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:31.380 be with you. Not the pastor, not the worship 00:39:31.380 --> 00:39:34.940 leader, not your neighbor. He wants to be with 00:39:34.940 --> 00:39:41.019 you in the secret place. And so this morning, 00:39:41.079 --> 00:39:44.059 I'm going to ask the worship team to come. And 00:39:44.059 --> 00:39:47.039 the ushers are going to begin to distribute communion. 00:39:49.219 --> 00:39:56.260 This is why I love the table of the Lord. Because 00:39:56.260 --> 00:40:02.320 the table of the Lord re -centers my life. The 00:40:02.320 --> 00:40:06.840 table of the Lord draws my attention to the one 00:40:06.840 --> 00:40:11.460 that is so zealous for me that he gave his life 00:40:11.460 --> 00:40:21.340 for me. And when my eyes are fixed on that zealous 00:40:21.340 --> 00:40:26.670 one that gave his life for me, Do you know what 00:40:26.670 --> 00:40:36.590 that begins to stir? Zeal. Zeal. And so this 00:40:36.590 --> 00:40:44.449 morning, I want us to be a people not just wanting 00:40:44.449 --> 00:40:48.230 an emotional experience at an altar, although 00:40:48.230 --> 00:40:52.809 they're good. But I want you to walk out here. 00:40:53.550 --> 00:40:55.889 committed to these three things. Go ahead, men, 00:40:55.969 --> 00:41:00.969 you can begin to distribute. As we come to the 00:41:00.969 --> 00:41:04.530 table of the Lord, I'm going to ask that we would 00:41:04.530 --> 00:41:08.769 make a fresh commitment in guarding the direction 00:41:08.769 --> 00:41:16.590 of our hearts. And sometimes you have to let 00:41:16.590 --> 00:41:24.599 go of things, good things. At this table of the 00:41:24.599 --> 00:41:28.099 Lord, I want us to think about how intentional 00:41:28.099 --> 00:41:33.059 we're being with our life. What we're building 00:41:33.059 --> 00:41:44.960 towards. At this table of the Lord, I want us 00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:49.719 to maybe oil the doors of our secret place. Maybe 00:41:49.719 --> 00:41:54.880 they've gotten a little squeaky from unuse. But 00:41:54.880 --> 00:42:00.719 the bridegroom is calling. As much as he loves 00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:03.219 all of the things that you do for the kingdom, 00:42:03.420 --> 00:42:08.280 what he's after is your heart. What he's after 00:42:08.280 --> 00:42:14.760 is time with you in the secret place. He didn't 00:42:14.760 --> 00:42:20.320 die on a cross for you just to do good things 00:42:20.320 --> 00:42:24.949 for him. He died on a cross. So that you would 00:42:24.949 --> 00:42:43.210 have a love affair with him. Jesus. The table 00:42:43.210 --> 00:42:47.409 of the Lord is a place of examination. It's a 00:42:47.409 --> 00:42:51.110 place to examine our hearts, our lives. And so 00:42:51.110 --> 00:42:53.469 for just a few moments here, I want us to just 00:42:53.469 --> 00:43:00.909 quietly look at where we've let our heart go 00:43:00.909 --> 00:43:03.969 to. I want us to look at how we've chosen to 00:43:03.969 --> 00:43:07.010 live and build our life. And I want us to begin 00:43:07.010 --> 00:43:09.869 to think about our use of this secret place. 00:43:11.610 --> 00:44:34.320 Just for a few moments here. This might be a 00:44:34.320 --> 00:44:41.880 moment of repentance. Jesus told the church of 00:44:41.880 --> 00:44:47.000 Ephesus, repent of these things. Repent that 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:53.679 you have stopped doing first love works. You 00:44:53.679 --> 00:44:58.599 will receive life. Repentance, all it really 00:44:58.599 --> 00:45:05.250 means, it's more than an I'm sorry. I'm sorry's 00:45:05.250 --> 00:45:08.789 don't mean a lot if you then don't quit doing 00:45:08.789 --> 00:45:14.489 the thing that caused the pain. But repentance 00:45:14.489 --> 00:45:18.150 is to change your mind and to go a different 00:45:18.150 --> 00:45:24.130 way. And some of us might need to do life a little 00:45:24.130 --> 00:45:31.730 different. We might need to make space for the 00:45:31.730 --> 00:45:40.369 secret place. We maybe have let our heart have 00:45:40.369 --> 00:45:46.369 its way without direction. And we need to change 00:45:46.369 --> 00:45:50.449 that. This is simple repentance here. Lord, what 00:45:50.449 --> 00:45:55.929 do I need to do to change that I may walk in 00:45:55.929 --> 00:46:23.730 zeal? Lord, as we come to your table, we don't 00:46:23.730 --> 00:46:29.650 want to be like the empty nesters who spent their 00:46:29.650 --> 00:46:34.090 whole marriage busy doing life, busy taking care 00:46:34.090 --> 00:46:38.590 of kids, busy with careers, and never doing the 00:46:38.590 --> 00:46:43.389 works of first love and are suddenly alone together 00:46:43.389 --> 00:46:48.070 again and they don't even know their spouse. 00:46:52.070 --> 00:46:55.070 Jesus, we don't want to be so busy in your kingdom 00:46:55.070 --> 00:47:03.429 that we don't know you. We don't want to one 00:47:03.429 --> 00:47:09.449 day as we're standing before you, Lord, look 00:47:09.449 --> 00:47:15.090 at what I did. I even prophesied. And Jesus, 00:47:15.170 --> 00:47:23.880 you say I never knew you. Lord, We want to be 00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:29.039 consumed, above all, with first love, with the 00:47:29.039 --> 00:47:34.639 secret place. And so as we come to your table 00:47:34.639 --> 00:47:37.559 today, we take up your bread, which is your body. 00:47:41.400 --> 00:47:47.440 This body in which we become one with. Even as 00:47:47.440 --> 00:47:51.579 a man and a woman becomes one, as we partake 00:47:51.579 --> 00:47:57.179 of this body, one with your body, a place of 00:47:57.179 --> 00:48:03.420 deep intimacy and love that feeds zeal. And as 00:48:03.420 --> 00:48:08.199 we take of this body, would you feed the zeal 00:48:08.199 --> 00:48:13.559 and the fervor of our spirit today? May it awaken 00:48:13.559 --> 00:48:20.219 this body of yours that was broken for us, that 00:48:20.219 --> 00:48:25.880 was slain for us. May it be the sustenance of 00:48:25.880 --> 00:48:32.380 our zeal as we partake of it today. In Jesus' 00:48:32.420 --> 00:48:35.079 name, let's partake of his body this morning. 00:48:53.130 --> 00:48:58.889 And we take the cup. The cup that is the promise. 00:49:01.190 --> 00:49:06.769 The cup that represents the new covenant. The 00:49:06.769 --> 00:49:09.670 cup that reminds us that there is another cup 00:49:09.670 --> 00:49:12.309 that we will one day drink at the marriage supper 00:49:12.309 --> 00:49:15.730 of the Lamb. Where we are face to face with Christ. 00:49:17.170 --> 00:49:20.409 And so this morning, Jesus, we take this cup 00:49:20.409 --> 00:49:27.789 in anticipation. We take this cup with joy, knowing 00:49:27.789 --> 00:49:31.909 that it's just around the corner in such a little 00:49:31.909 --> 00:49:35.829 time that we will be face to face with you partaking 00:49:35.829 --> 00:49:40.389 together. And so with great anticipation and 00:49:40.389 --> 00:49:44.210 great thankfulness, we partake this morning of 00:49:44.210 --> 00:49:58.139 your cup in Jesus' name. Praise the Lord. Praise 00:49:58.139 --> 00:50:02.739 the Lord. Can you just stand with me and can 00:50:02.739 --> 00:50:06.639 we just for a moment worship the Lord? Thank 00:50:06.639 --> 00:50:10.320 you, Lord. Before we leave, just for one more 00:50:10.320 --> 00:50:11.460 moment, worship him.