1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 So we've been looking in our summer of Psalms, we are back in book one where the Psalms, 2 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:15,000 the entirety of the book of Psalms is written in five kind of groups of Psalms that mimic 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:20,440 that of the Torah. Genesis, Exodus, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. We're 4 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:25,400 in Psalm 19 and we've been looking at God's faithfulness and an interesting point of view 5 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:31,280 we're going to look at today is God's faithfulness revealed to us not only in creation but also 6 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:36,520 in covenant. So this understanding of covenant. So I want to start, how many people have been 7 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:42,720 to a place around the world, United States Midwest world, we'll go global with it, where 8 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:48,200 you've been to a point of creation or you've seen something in creation that really just 9 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,960 took your breath away. If you're new, maybe it's your first time at Monster Church, I 10 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:57,200 like to get some interaction going, it keeps me from falling asleep and so understanding 11 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,720 that we like to have this, it kind of brings about new perspectives, there have been some 12 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:07,480 times that some of you have given an answer so awesome that it's actually changed part 13 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:13,900 of the sermon. Let's not shoot for that every time but God uses all sorts of people in all 14 00:01:13,900 --> 00:01:19,920 sorts of ways but what in creation have you experienced where you're just like in awe 15 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:24,920 or maybe some of you maybe been prone to worship for some of that, I mean creation does that, 16 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:32,560 it all points to the glory of God anyway but go ahead, yeah up in the top, Yosemite, alright, 17 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:41,560 any specific part of that, the whole thing, okay, yeah, yeah. A Sunset in the Dominican 18 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,440 Republic, okay, very good, yeah over here Randy, the Grand Canyon, I've already used 19 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:52,600 that example a couple times but that's a great one, yeah Doug, Lake Tahoe, absolutely, don't 20 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,920 go in April, though it's cheap, don't go in April, there's nothing to do, Karen and I, 21 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:07,320 that was a great anniversary trip, others, yeah right here, the what hot, all hot springs, 22 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:18,640 okay, alright, yeah Barb, Niagara Falls, sure, in the back, you just want to keep going, 23 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:26,360 just name other states, Denali, Alaska, Canada, said no one ever but anywhere else, no, others, 24 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:33,880 in the back, yeah, yes, yeah, of course, yeah you'd have to bring up your trip to the Holy 25 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:40,200 Land, yeah, yeah, all of your answers good, hers is best, right, yeah, yeah, the place 26 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:46,040 where Jesus walked, absolutely, yeah, any others, try to go against Israel, go ahead, 27 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:53,360 try ahead Larry, what, Yellowstone, it's not Jerusalem but yep, Yellowstone, good, okay, 28 00:02:53,360 --> 00:03:00,440 Lisa, Rocky Mountains, so it's interesting, I say creation and you guys all go to places 29 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:07,720 which is totally fine, right, and notice how none of you said Beecher, right, none of you 30 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:18,560 said Munster, I-80, no, we go to these beautiful, beautiful places because it is kind of out 31 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:24,240 of our ordinary because we all live, most of us, we live in the Midwest, right, now 32 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:29,240 I know Doug Verlander, you live over, or used to live over in the Lake Tahoe, Reno area 33 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:34,720 where there's beauty all over the place and you come to here and you're just kind of like, 34 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:39,800 and you know, and so there's something about it, what about the creation that you all talked 35 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:47,480 about, Diane pretty much everything above the boundary waters, but why do those come 36 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:54,160 up, why does those levels of creation, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Mount Everest, why do those, 37 00:03:54,160 --> 00:04:06,760 why did those come to your mind, what, they're mystical, interesting, yeah, absolutely, yet 38 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:12,960 you didn't say, Evie's eyes, when we asked you didn't say that, like, but because there 39 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:19,520 are things that, and experiences that we have that one of the creations I am most thankful 40 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:26,600 of is my wife, funny how that perspective shifts, right, we'll keep it appropriate, 41 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:35,240 but understand that God created everything, yet we go to these destinations, what if you 42 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:42,160 were the greatest creation that someone has experienced in life, let that hang there for 43 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:48,000 a second, for some of us you're like, oh, that causes me anxiety, that I am the greatest 44 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,920 creation for somebody else, now I don't even know if Kerry would say that, right, because 45 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:58,040 I don't know if we would, if we think that way, but if the kingdom, and here's the interesting 46 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:04,200 about kind of revelation, covenant creation, that general revelation, you all described 47 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:09,280 it, nature is a wonderful way that we can get, look at this and go, thank God, I've 48 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:13,520 used it many times about the Grand Canyon, I don't know anybody that goes to that and 49 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:20,600 just goes, cool, right, because it's just so vast, and again, if you want to think that 50 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,520 this is just millions of years of rock formation, I'd like to think that God just kind of did 51 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,840 one of these with his fingers, right, and you go, oh Jim, that's childish, I don't 52 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:34,360 care, that if God is the creator and sustainer of all, I'm going to give it to him regardless, 53 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:39,080 I'm not going to try to find the science of it all when I can just give thanks to God 54 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:44,040 for that because science can never and will never give me salvation, so I'm not going 55 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:50,480 to give science props or whatever, I'm just going to look at God and say, way to go God, 56 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:56,280 it's kind of the same I feel about my wife, way to go God, that is a gift to me, that 57 00:05:56,280 --> 00:06:04,000 creation that you had in mind from the beginning of the world, I am thankful for that, that 58 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:09,680 drives me to praise him, now that makes some people uncomfortable, what in the world would 59 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,880 someone look at me and go, oh I'm going to praise God for him, or I'm going to praise 60 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,920 God for her, but shouldn't we? 61 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:23,520 We're not praising them, we're saying God thank you, I know for a lot of the guys in 62 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:31,120 the room, you are thankful for your spouse, and hopefully vice versa, that there's a lot 63 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,760 of women in the room that are thankful for their spouse, but that is how God has designed 64 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:43,520 it, this general revelation down to more specific or special revelation are the things geared 65 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:51,880 for his people, God's word, those moments when the Holy Spirit comes and just impacts 66 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:56,120 your life, and I could ask for all kinds of testimony and you all would give it because 67 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:03,920 I know a lot of you have felt or engaged or experienced the Spirit in that way, so that's 68 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:09,560 where the creation, this wide kind of big thing comes very specific for each and every 69 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:15,280 one of us, and that is how God has designed it, so let's start by reading the first four 70 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:22,000 verses of Psalm 19, where the Psalmist writes, the heavens declare the glory of God and the 71 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:29,240 sky above proclaims his handiwork, day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals 72 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:34,880 knowledge, there is no speech nor are there words whose voice is not heard, their voice 73 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:41,280 goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world, so understanding 74 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:53,360 that creation speaks to the glory of God yet uses zero actual language, and God can do 75 00:07:53,360 --> 00:08:00,200 that, I think that's one of the real, real cool things about God is how he has created, 76 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:05,760 this grandiose creator has created things in such a specific way, in such a beautiful 77 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:11,160 way, even the things of light and dark, as we talked about a couple years ago when we 78 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:20,040 looked through the beginning of Genesis, the heavens declare the glory of God, their voice 79 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:26,500 goes out throughout all the earth and their words to the end of the world, these verses 80 00:08:26,500 --> 00:08:33,800 illustrate how creation itself testifies to God's glory and God's faithfulness, the consistent 81 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:40,960 order and beauty of the universe reflect the reliability and the steadfastness of its creator, 82 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:47,040 that is a, to me that's an important point in life, for the life of the believer is understanding 83 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,640 that God is not only creator, check, that he is a sustainer, check, that he is a God 84 00:08:51,640 --> 00:09:00,400 of order, check, and that he has created all of this for a reason and for a purpose, check. 85 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:01,920 So what can we draw from this? 86 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:03,840 What do we draw from these first four verses? 87 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:09,220 I think an application that we can, kind of a point for us to take with us today is that 88 00:09:09,220 --> 00:09:17,040 as we observe the natural world, we are reminded daily of God's faithfulness, but here's the 89 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:25,360 thing, we have to be disciplined to look at it that way, because I don't get too many 90 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:30,320 phone calls, text messages, or stop by's in my office where someone comes in just to give 91 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:38,000 glory about the Grand Canyon, or give glory for, you get my father-in-law talking about 92 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:42,400 Banff, they went a couple years ago and did a train and icebergs and all that stuff, I 93 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,200 mean he was blown away by the beauty of that. 94 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:52,400 And sometimes people come in and tell me about their trips, but rarely do I get people that 95 00:09:52,400 --> 00:10:01,240 experience creation and nature to the glory of God, to the sustaining of their faith. 96 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:06,960 Every once in a while I'll get someone that maybe goes for a walk and has a spiritual 97 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:11,960 experience and they want to come and give testimony, and I love that, it reminds me, 98 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:17,720 it was beginning of August 2019, and we were all journeying through my sister's cancer 99 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:22,880 journey and I remember I went on a long bike ride, and I was going up through Cal City 100 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,760 and kind of on one of the trails that go through Lansing and all of that, and I was listening 101 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:32,840 to some hymns, and I remember As the Deer, one of my favorite, favorite hymns, As the 102 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:38,680 Deer, was playing, no joke, as I'm going through this kind of wooded area of the trail, three 103 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:44,400 deer come out, and they just kind of hang out, and so I just stop, I have a moment, 104 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:51,760 I just completely break down, and it was just like God in that moment, God was just reminding 105 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:53,280 me that he was there. 106 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,600 Now some of you may have just rolled your eyes, and that's okay, I'm not hating on you, 107 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,760 then you go, it's just a deer, it's just three deer, some of you, the hunters are like, they 108 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:07,600 look delicious, or whatever it is, but that was meant for me, it wasn't meant for you, 109 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,240 you weren't there, Jim, were you where I now, I probably couldn't keep up if we were on 110 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,320 bikes with you anyway, you would have flown right past the deer, but he wasn't there, 111 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,980 it was for this Jim. 112 00:11:16,980 --> 00:11:23,000 I think we need to start looking at creation that way, and I bring up Jim for kind of, 113 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,960 kind of for a reason, you have a really good eye for taking pictures in nature, I've seen 114 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:33,160 some of it, and only half of them are pictures of Jill, but understand that I think if you 115 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:39,080 talk to Jim about the journeys they've had, he's probably had moments like that, but that 116 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:43,600 moment wasn't for my sister Lynn, it wasn't for my mom, it wasn't for my brother, it wasn't 117 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:50,160 for any of you, that was God's moment with me, and what's the problem with giving God 118 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,400 the credit for that? 119 00:11:52,400 --> 00:12:02,400 Nothing, because that got me through a moment, that got me through a beautiful, hard time 120 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:11,280 where God reminded me, Jim no matter how this goes, I am with you, that as a deer pants 121 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,920 for the water, so my soul, regardless if my sister was going to stay on this earth, my 122 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:20,960 soul needs to long after him. 123 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,360 How dare God say that to me? 124 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:32,360 Oh wait, because he can, because he's reminding me in that moment, Jim I've got Lynn, I didn't 125 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:37,280 know if she was going to go with him at the end of that month, and she did, but in that 126 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:44,200 moment, that specific moment, that special revelation, that was gift wrap for a Jim Holland 127 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:49,480 owner, and I will give testimony to that and testify to that all day, because those little 128 00:12:49,480 --> 00:13:01,280 moments are moments that God is coming alongside us in life and using deer to point to him. 129 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:05,320 So if the heavens can declare the glory of the Lord, God's going to use that in your 130 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:12,080 life and in my life to remind you of one, maybe two simple truths. 131 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:17,400 I've got you and keep going. 132 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,400 I think we need to start looking at nature more that way. 133 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:26,040 Now I don't need you guys to come and tell me like, oh but I-80 just points me to the 134 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:30,200 way of, no I-80 probably doesn't, okay let's call it spade to spade, but if God's going 135 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:34,920 to meet you in that moment, and maybe it's in the traffic trying to go to Michigan starting 136 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:40,400 on Wednesdays in the summer and you're sitting there and you have not made it to Klein and 137 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:45,960 it's been a half an hour, maybe God's meeting you in that and going, you need to have patience, 138 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:49,800 or maybe you need to go a different way. 139 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,480 However God's going to meet with us, we need to be open to having that happen. 140 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,320 But I think for some of us we shut some of that out. 141 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:02,680 We may get afraid to be that vulnerable with God. 142 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:04,960 So let me ask why. 143 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:09,520 Why are we afraid to be vulnerable with God in those moments? 144 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,880 This is a God that knows you, that sees you, counts the hairs on your head, that understands 145 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:19,720 everything about you, yet we struggle to reciprocate that, would say search me and know me, oh 146 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:25,720 God, and you'd kind of be like, already did, but we struggle with that. 147 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,180 Consider a hiker embarking on a journey through a dense forest. 148 00:14:29,180 --> 00:14:33,200 As they navigate the trails they marvel at the intricate ecosystem. 149 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:37,280 Warren Worsby gave me this kind of this practical example when I was reading his commentary. 150 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:42,520 The towering trees, the chirping birds, and the gentle flow of a nearby stream, each element 151 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:49,240 of nature reflects God's faithfulness in sustaining life and providing beauty. 152 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:53,520 Despite the challenges of the terrain, the hiker finds assurance of God's consistent 153 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,600 care and provisions through the natural world. 154 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:03,040 Yet some of us in this room are going to go, those are trees, great, those are birds, they're 155 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:09,440 annoying, I hear the stream and now I need to pee. 156 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:11,880 Why do we do that? 157 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:17,400 Why do we want to lessen something that God's obviously taking care in creating? 158 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:22,000 One of my favorite things about my wife is her dimples. 159 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,440 From the first time I met her when I was a sophomore in high school, she had dimples 160 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:31,680 deeper than the moon's craters, and I was entranced by him. 161 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,960 And those are things that I give thanks to God for. 162 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,040 And I will remind her of that, to the point where she'll tell me to stop, and that's 163 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,320 fine, I just keep going, I don't listen. 164 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:50,440 But even those little things, can we develop eyes and ears to see and hear God's creation 165 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:54,480 in a way that he reminds us those two truths? 166 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:59,080 I got you, keep going. 167 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,480 Or are we just going to kind of take them for granted? 168 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:05,000 I think we need to grow in that as people. 169 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:09,720 Because Lord's Day 10, question and answer 28 reminds us of a simple truth, how does 170 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:13,440 the knowledge of God's creation and his providence help us? 171 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:16,360 Great question Heideberg, what is the answer? 172 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:21,480 We can be patient when things go against us, and thankful when things go well. 173 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:27,360 And for the future, we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing 174 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,680 in creation will separate us from his love. 175 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:36,600 For all creatures are so completely in God's hands that without his will, they can neither 176 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,520 move nor be moved. 177 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:43,040 Boom, it's right there. 178 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:49,760 That's how we should be engaging nature, that's how we should be engaging creation. 179 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:55,560 Things do not come to us by chance, but by God's fatherly hand. 180 00:16:55,560 --> 00:17:01,760 That explains that we can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and confident in the 181 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:06,560 future because of God's faithful providence. 182 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:12,980 But here's the struggle, when we think we need to do it all ourselves, God's providence 183 00:17:12,980 --> 00:17:16,000 is not in our purview. 184 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,520 When we're trying to make it ourselves, when it's all about what we can do, what we can 185 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:25,400 provide, our need for God's providence kind of takes a back seat. 186 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:29,720 Let's not do that, let's put that first and foremost, because I think it's going to allow 187 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:38,000 for the successes to be fuller and for those emptinesses to not last as long. 188 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,640 So what's a specific way that he does this outside of creation? 189 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:47,320 Well, I think we all got the assurance of something important this morning. 190 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:53,540 The assurance of God's providential care in every aspect of our lives reinforces not only 191 00:17:53,540 --> 00:17:58,960 the truth of his faithfulness, but his love for us. 192 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:04,320 In the Lord's Supper, we experience a tangible reminder of his care and provision, of his 193 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:09,480 renewing our confidence in his promises. 194 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,320 So that's creation. 195 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,200 Let's start looking at it a little bit differently. 196 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:15,860 What does that mean? 197 00:18:15,860 --> 00:18:17,880 Maybe we've got to go outside more. 198 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,040 Maybe we've got to start taking some more trips. 199 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:25,720 Maybe we've got to start seeking God in nature knowing that he will be found. 200 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:30,720 We sang about that, that is rooted in God's word, which is that second understanding of 201 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:32,080 his relationship with us. 202 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:33,880 We have creation, we have covenant. 203 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:34,880 Where do we find that? 204 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,680 We find that in God's word, starting with verse 7. 205 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,880 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. 206 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:46,280 The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 207 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:50,000 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. 208 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,920 The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 209 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:58,240 I think that's it. 210 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:02,320 The law of the Lord is perfect. 211 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:06,120 We don't get to use that word in our lives because we're not, we're far from it. 212 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:12,060 But the covenant of God in our lives is the perfect way for him to not only engage us, 213 00:19:12,060 --> 00:19:17,280 but to highlight us that we are loved and protected by God. 214 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:22,160 These verses highlight the reliability and perfection of God's word in the midst of a 215 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:28,920 culture that wants to completely destroy this. 216 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:33,280 They want to look at it in such a way where different translations and all of these other 217 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:40,320 things that we do a really good job of trying to deconstruct this when the truth of this 218 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:47,200 is regardless when it comes to anything but the Greek and the Hebrew. 219 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:52,400 That we can get so caught up in how we decipher these things and what these words mean, we 220 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:57,760 make it extremely complicated when I believe it's actually very easy. 221 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:03,520 If the law of the Lord is perfect and it's reviving our soul, then that is its modus 222 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:04,680 operandi. 223 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:09,320 That is the thing that the scriptures are supposed to do in our life. 224 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:15,580 Timothy tells us it's used to lift us up, it's used to correct us. 225 00:20:15,580 --> 00:20:18,000 When someone is in error, we use this. 226 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,400 When someone is downtrodden, we use this. 227 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,560 If me and one of our elders get to go see Debbie this week, I'm going to bring this 228 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:27,360 and I'm going to read this to her. 229 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,780 Because what would that look like if I go and sit down with Debbie the day before surgery 230 00:20:31,780 --> 00:20:38,800 on her brain and read her All the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss? 231 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,720 She's going to wonder what in the world? 232 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:44,440 And on the way home, the elder is going to yell at me. 233 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:48,640 No, I'm going to bring the truth of God's word because though All the Places You'll 234 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:55,360 Go, great book, got me through a lot of hard times, this book is perfect. 235 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:58,280 This book should be reviving my soul. 236 00:20:58,280 --> 00:20:59,280 Why? 237 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:04,360 Because the testimony of the Lord is sure. 238 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:08,480 I think for a lot of us when we get up there, I think God's going to remind us or maybe 239 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,040 Jesus or somebody, Peter. 240 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,560 I know he's going to say to me, he's going to say, Jim, I didn't mean it to be that 241 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:16,440 hard. 242 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,920 You made that way more complicated than it had to be. 243 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:26,440 Love God, love people, follow his word. 244 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:28,040 And that should be enough. 245 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:29,720 So how do we do that? 246 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:35,920 We have to immerse ourselves in scripture, the power of God's faithful word. 247 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:39,320 If I sat down with each and every one of you, first I'll be looking in the mirror asking 248 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:40,880 me, when is the last time? 249 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:45,120 You dove into God's word. 250 00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:49,120 When's the last time you sat with the Lord and allowed him to speak to you? 251 00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:51,520 Well, pastor, I don't really know how to do that. 252 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,120 Well, shut your mouth and read his word. 253 00:21:55,120 --> 00:22:01,920 That's him talking to you because you can easily read the verse seven in my notes where 254 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:07,880 it says to me, he could be, Jim, the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving your soul. 255 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:12,880 The testimony of the Lord is sure, making you wise. 256 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:16,480 My precepts are right and they should be rejoiced in your heart. 257 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:18,720 Make it personal. 258 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:26,240 Read it like God's writing it to you because he is. 259 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:27,280 So what do we do with this? 260 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:29,160 How do we do this? 261 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:33,920 Well, it's getting comfortable with God's word by reading it. 262 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,040 Well, pastor, I need more of a devotion to help me. 263 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,880 That's fine as long as God's word's in it. 264 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,680 We need to dive into this. 265 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:50,000 39 years on this earth, almost 18 years in the past, the best way that I have found to 266 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:54,640 immerse myself in God's word, and some of you are going to hate this, is by memorizing 267 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:55,640 it. 268 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:57,520 Oh, pastor, I don't know. 269 00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:59,320 I don't know if I can memorize it. 270 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,160 I, you know, I, yes, it's okay. 271 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:03,800 Start with Jesus wept. 272 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:07,000 It's the shortest verse in the Bible, right? 273 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,000 Let's all say it together. 274 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,640 One, two, three, Jesus wept. 275 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:11,640 Look at you. 276 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:12,640 You just memorized the Bible. 277 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:17,400 You don't have to get it up to where you're doing the entire Ten Commandments or whatever 278 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:18,760 it is. 279 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,680 To me, one of the greatest, quote unquote, Bible studies, it wasn't really even a Bible 280 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:23,680 study. 281 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,360 I was a sophomore at Central College and me and six, I was living in a house with six 282 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:28,760 guys, two more guys joined us. 283 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:35,720 We tried our best for 16 weeks that semester to memorize the entire book of Colossians. 284 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,280 And at the end of it, we went to a coffee house up in the, kind of in their upper room, 285 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,640 so to speak, and we just dove into it. 286 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,880 And yes, none of us did it perfectly because that's a lot, four chapters worth. 287 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:52,080 But I guarantee you that God will bring a part of Colossians to me when I need it. 288 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:53,080 Why? 289 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:56,000 Because I've been, it's been immersed in me. 290 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:57,520 God has set it in my heart. 291 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:01,480 His proverb says He's tied it around my neck. 292 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:02,480 What is that for you? 293 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,240 Maybe it's Psalm 23. 294 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:11,840 A beautiful Psalm that can get you through almost anything if you believe it. 295 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:17,280 Because we can say it, well, the Lord is my shepherd. 296 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:18,280 I shall not want. 297 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,600 It's all about attitude. 298 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:22,200 He makes me lie down in green pastures. 299 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,320 I don't want to lie down in green pastures. 300 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:25,800 He leaves me beside still waters. 301 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:27,720 I don't like still waters. 302 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,040 He restores my soul. 303 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,880 I don't want that, said no one ever. 304 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:38,560 See what we can do when our cynicism comes into our reading of God's word? 305 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,600 Though it's not about us, He wrote it for us. 306 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:49,200 He's making us understand what His word and His will is for our life. 307 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:50,640 We see it in the Old Testament. 308 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,200 We see it in the New Testament. 309 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,920 And we see it in what we did this morning. 310 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,680 I want to close with that. 311 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:06,520 Eid-Ur-Kadakism, Lord's Day 29, question and answer 79 is all about communion. 312 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,280 And I want to end with this. 313 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:13,200 Why then does Christ call the bread His body and the cup His blood or the new covenant 314 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:14,440 in His blood? 315 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:19,000 And Paul used the words a sharing in Christ's body and blood. 316 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,920 Answer, Christ has good reason for these words. 317 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:26,800 He wants to teach us that just as bread and wine nourish the temporal life, so too His 318 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:33,480 crucified body to pour out blood are the true food and drink of our souls for eternal life. 319 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:38,560 But more important, He wants to assure us that by this visible sign and pledge that 320 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:44,480 we through the Holy Spirit's work share in His true body and blood as surely as our mouths 321 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,800 receive these holy signs in remembrance. 322 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:54,700 And that all of His suffering and obedience are as definitely ours as if we personally 323 00:25:54,700 --> 00:25:58,400 had suffered and made a satisfaction for our sins. 324 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:03,100 Now, you sit down with someone that doesn't really know church or Reformed theology and 325 00:26:03,100 --> 00:26:07,400 you read them that, they're going to look at you as a crazy person. 326 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:09,560 Or you're going to say, wow, that sounds kind of Catholic. 327 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:10,560 No. 328 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:15,680 The reason why I wanted to end with this is because when I, I just need the Lord to show 329 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:16,680 me something. 330 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:18,880 I just need Him to remind me that He's there. 331 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,720 Friends, we do it every month. 332 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,160 But my fear is some of you are doing it habitually. 333 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,000 It's the first Sunday of every month. 334 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,120 Now, I've got to make sure we've got to get that bread and that juice. 335 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:36,240 If we look at it transactionally, it doesn't work. 336 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:43,500 If we look at it as covenant, as sustainability for our lives, this doesn't mean we go down 337 00:26:43,500 --> 00:26:49,600 Ridge Road and we weren't in the parade on 4th of July throwing out grape juice and bread, 338 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:50,600 right? 339 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:51,600 That would be so strange. 340 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,920 Oh, it would probably bring about some pretty cool conversations. 341 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:56,440 It would be very strange. 342 00:26:56,440 --> 00:27:06,880 We're given this to sustain us to do life the best way we can in Christ. 343 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:16,920 So friends, as we walk through this life, understand that God has given us His word. 344 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:22,920 He's given us creation to strengthen our faith in God's promises. 345 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:28,160 He gives us these tangible reminders of these two truths. 346 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:29,340 I'll add a third one. 347 00:27:29,340 --> 00:27:31,960 First one is, I love you. 348 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:33,920 I've got this. 349 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,360 Keep going with me. 350 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:41,680 Please stand if you're able and we're going to pray together our closing prayer. 351 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:47,120 It's supposed to say Heavenly Father first, but that's okay. 352 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:52,880 Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminder of your faithfulness in creation, history, 353 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,560 and through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 354 00:27:55,560 --> 00:28:01,320 We are in awe of how your handiwork in the heavens declare your glory and how your covenant 355 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:06,240 promises assure us of your constant care and presence. 356 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:11,960 Help us to live each day in the confidence that we belong to our faithful Savior Jesus 357 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:19,120 Christ who has fully paid for all of our sins and watches over us with tender care. 358 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:24,680 Strengthen our faith, guide our steps, and let your word be a light to our path. 359 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:40,400 May we continually find our comfort and hope in your steadfast promises in Jesus Christ.