SPEAKER_01: Hello, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning in to Usung Churches Podcast.
SPEAKER_01: We're a gospel centered church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors.
SPEAKER_01: May God bless you today through his life-giving word.
SPEAKER_00: The second lesson is from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 1 through 11.
SPEAKER_00: About the times and the seasons.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you, for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
SPEAKER_00: When they say peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
SPEAKER_00: But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief.
SPEAKER_00: For you are all children of light and children of the day.
SPEAKER_00: We do not belong to the night or the darkness.
SPEAKER_00: So then let us not sleep like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled.
SPEAKER_00: For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
SPEAKER_00: But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love and a helmet of the hope of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_01: Sisters, brothers, let's encourage one another and build each other up.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, you've called us to yourself by grace.
SPEAKER_01: We pray now by grace you would build us up.
SPEAKER_01: Give us reason for hope and confidence that we would find encouragement to live out the Christian life, to make our spiritual pilgrimage, and to encourage one another to do the same.
SPEAKER_01: Let the words of my mouth, the meditation of all of our hearts, be always pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and Redeemer.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Please be seated.
SPEAKER_01: Boy, a whole new perspective on things up here.
SPEAKER_01: All right, friends.
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's imagine for a moment we decided we're gonna run a marathon together.
SPEAKER_01: And here we are, we've done our training, we've done our preparation, and now we're, I don't know, how long is a marathon, by the way?
SPEAKER_01: I probably should have looked that up.
SPEAKER_01: Five miles?
SPEAKER_01: Four miles?
SPEAKER_01: 26 miles?
SPEAKER_01: We're most of the way through it.
SPEAKER_01: We're getting to that last mile.
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, naturally, because I'm gonna be at least somewhat realistic in this illustration, we're shoulder to shoulder, getting to that last mile, making that final turn, and I'm saying to you, this is just too much.
SPEAKER_01: My legs are burning, my joints ache.
SPEAKER_01: This is not what I signed up for.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going home.
SPEAKER_01: Now, as we make that final turn, you're feeling everything that I'm feeling in that moment.
SPEAKER_01: Except you see your family, you see your friends, you see your loved ones gathered along the side of the road, holding up signs and cheering out.
SPEAKER_01: Keep going.
SPEAKER_01: Don't stop.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, already you can see the difference that a little encouragement makes.
SPEAKER_01: A little encouragement goes a long way, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: A little encouragement can even counteract all those voices of discouragement that you find around you.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you found that at a certain point in your life, you had someone come alongside you and say, don't give up, don't stop, keep at it.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe you'd say that made all the difference as you look back.
SPEAKER_01: The spiritual life is no different.
SPEAKER_01: Discouragement is easy.
SPEAKER_01: Discouragement is like gravity, it just has a way of pulling you down.
SPEAKER_01: That's the way it works.
SPEAKER_01: Encouragement takes commitment, takes effort, takes intentionality, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Now we've been going through the one another commands in the New Testament, asking the question what does it mean to be a gospel-centered church?
SPEAKER_01: And not just a gospel-centered church, but a church that is putting the gospel into action, putting it into practice one with another.
SPEAKER_01: We found that foundationally, a church that puts the gospel into action is a church that loves one another committedly.
SPEAKER_01: We show up for one another, we're there for one another.
SPEAKER_01: When we gather, we say, I'm gonna be there.
SPEAKER_01: We bring something with us, and we have something to offer one with another.
SPEAKER_01: We love one another, and then everything else is almost built, as it were, on that single commandment to love one another.
SPEAKER_01: It finds expression in serving one another and forgiving one another.
SPEAKER_01: And this Sunday we find that loving one another is also a call to encourage one another.
SPEAKER_01: Did you see that in Thessalonians 5.11?
SPEAKER_01: Encourage one another and build each other up as you're already doing.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica.
SPEAKER_01: The church in Thessalonica needs encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: Because just like us, discouragement is easy.
SPEAKER_01: The church in Thessalonica has experienced a number of deaths recently in their congregation, and they're feeling rattled and discouraged by that.
SPEAKER_01: They're also rattled and discouraged by the idea of Christ's return.
SPEAKER_01: Are we ready for that?
SPEAKER_01: When he shows up, is he going to be happy with us?
SPEAKER_01: Because we're not so sure he will be.
SPEAKER_01: The Thessalonians need encouragement, and not just from the Apostle Paul, they need to encourage one another on an ongoing basis.
SPEAKER_01: And friends, as a church family, so too do we need to encourage one another because the Christian life can be hard, can't it?
SPEAKER_01: And discouragement can be so easy.
SPEAKER_01: So we need to encourage one another.
SPEAKER_01: A church that puts the gospel into action encourages one another.
SPEAKER_01: And encourages to what?
SPEAKER_01: What do we encourage each other to?
SPEAKER_01: That's the question we want to ask.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul, I think, has at least three answers for the Thessalonians, and he would have three answers for us as well.
SPEAKER_01: Encourage one another to be vigilant.
SPEAKER_01: Encourage one another to be self-controlled, and encourage one another to be confident.
SPEAKER_01: Be vigilant, self-controlled, and confident.
SPEAKER_01: Encouragement can make all the difference in life, in marathons, and in the spiritual life as well, in longevity and in joy along the way.
SPEAKER_01: So open up your Bibles with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.
SPEAKER_01: Let's have a look at what it means to encourage one another as a church that puts the gospel into action.
SPEAKER_01: Chapter 5.
SPEAKER_01: About the about the times and seasons, Paul begins, brothers and sisters, you don't need anything to be written to you, for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
SPEAKER_01: When they say peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
SPEAKER_01: That's encouraging stuff, right?
SPEAKER_01: What's Paul's point?
SPEAKER_01: Well, Paul's describing the day of the Lord, right?
SPEAKER_01: This is a very loaded phrase from the Old Testament prophets, especially.
SPEAKER_01: You find it in the book of Amos, but you find it in places like Zephaniah, especially in chapters one and three.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just read a portion of Zephaniah that I think gives us a flavor of what it is that Paul's talking about describing the day of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Zephaniah chapter 1, the great day of the Lord is near, near and rapidly approaching.
SPEAKER_01: That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation.
SPEAKER_01: I will bring distress on mankind.
SPEAKER_01: That's the Lord speaking, and they will walk like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is dealing with a matter of fear and confusion for the Thessalonians.
SPEAKER_01: They know about the day of the Lord, but it's something that stirs great trepidation, great fear, great anxiety.
SPEAKER_01: And can you blame them if you read something like that?
SPEAKER_01: But the day of the Lord has two sides to the coin, you could say.
SPEAKER_01: The day of the Lord is going to be a day where God intervenes dramatically and determinately in the affairs of the human race.
SPEAKER_01: God is going to personally answer all evil and suffering and put it to an end.
SPEAKER_01: It's going to be past tense, while at the same time God conclusively rescues and redeems his people and invites them to dwell with him forever.
SPEAKER_01: And so just as the day of the Lord is a day of wrath against all evil and sin that opposes God's will, so too is the day of the Lord a great day of celebration for those who trust the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Zephaniah chapter 3.
SPEAKER_01: On that day, that same day, you will not be put to shame because of everything that you have done in rebelling against me, says the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He goes on to say, Be glad and celebrate with all your heart, daughter Jerusalem, the Lord has removed your punishment, he has turned back your enemy.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves.
SPEAKER_01: He will rejoice over you with gladness.
SPEAKER_01: He will be quiet, he will quiet, pardon me, he will be quiet in his love, he will delight in you with singing.
SPEAKER_01: What an amazing image, isn't that?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're New Song Church and we love singing.
SPEAKER_01: But the first person to sing, the first song that will be sung, is God singing over us, his people.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that amazing?
SPEAKER_01: That inspires us to sing, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: This is the day of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, it's a day where God will visit his wrath on all evil that opposes his will, and yet it will also be a day of great celebration and salvation for those who are in the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul understands, in light of Christ, the day of the Lord that was anticipated by the Old Testament prophets refers also to Christ's return in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that what we just confessed?
SPEAKER_01: Christ's return will be the day of the Lord, and it will be a sudden return, is what Paul writes in verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: When they say peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them.
SPEAKER_01: Kind of like the guy who built the barn, right?
SPEAKER_01: Everything's alright, I'm going to relax and take it easy.
SPEAKER_01: I got this all under control.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, if we're not vigilant, mindful, prepared, Christ's return will come unexpectedly, suddenly.
SPEAKER_01: And so Paul is writing to Thessalonians saying, Really, you don't need to know much more than that.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, you know, I think what Paul is trying to say to Thessalonians is much the same that he would say to us.
SPEAKER_01: Any preacher, myself included, who gets out the calendar and points to it and says, This is when Jesus is coming back, that's a preacher you need to switch off.
SPEAKER_01: Not even the Son knows, only the Father knows that day that he will return.
SPEAKER_01: All we need to know, along with the Thessalonians, is that Christ will return.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore we need to be spiritually prepared for it.
SPEAKER_01: We need to be vigilant.
SPEAKER_01: That's Paul's point here.
SPEAKER_01: He gives a couple of images for how suddenly this day will come.
SPEAKER_01: It'll come like a thief in the night.
SPEAKER_01: It'll come like labor pains on a pregnant woman.
SPEAKER_01: And both of these images really just highlight the need for preparedness.
SPEAKER_01: We'd be foolish to think that we're immune from a thief breaking in to steal, so we lock our doors.
SPEAKER_01: A pregnant woman knows the due date is coming and takes every effort to prepare, right?
SPEAKER_01: You already know, Paul is saying, Christ will return suddenly.
SPEAKER_01: So stay awake, verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: Be vigilant, be prepared.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, I think we can be vigilant by reminding ourselves of Christ's return often.
SPEAKER_01: I think one of the things that this means is that Christianity, our Christian faith, is not so much a backward-looking faith as a forward-looking faith.
SPEAKER_01: It involves both, yes, but I think sometimes it's easy to get the impression that Christianity always looks backward.
SPEAKER_01: It always looks at what has happened.
SPEAKER_01: It reminds us of Bible stories that took place in the past or whatever else.
SPEAKER_01: And yes, there is that dynamic.
SPEAKER_01: We need to look back and be reminded of what God has said and done in history, revealing himself and his will for us.
SPEAKER_01: But all of these things cultivate assurance to us that God keeps his promises and that his promises will be fully realized when he comes again in glory.
SPEAKER_01: Ours is a forward-looking faith.
SPEAKER_01: We look forward to that day when our faith will be made sight, and our Lord Jesus comes in glory, and we will live with him forever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Ours is a forward-looking faith.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're vigilant when we think about eternity and when we think about it often.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if we would do well for every time we meditate on the cross and the resurrection, and we do well to meditate on the cross and resurrection, but to remind ourselves that Christ will come again.
SPEAKER_01: And then to ask ourselves, Am I prepared?
SPEAKER_01: Am I ready to meet my Lord when he comes?
SPEAKER_01: Be vigilant.
SPEAKER_01: Ours is a forward-looking faith, and we can encourage vigilance together when we remind one another of this fact.
SPEAKER_01: As we pray for one another, as we converse with one another, as we comfort one another in sorrow and in times of difficulty, we remind each other that one day all of this will be past tense, and our Lord Jesus will come and we will dwell with him forever.
SPEAKER_01: We can be that for one another, along the side of the road, encouraging one another as we make this pilgrimage of faith to meet our Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Because isn't that the goal of the Christian life?
SPEAKER_01: The goal of the Christian life is not behavior modification, it is meeting our Lord and Savior who loves us.
SPEAKER_01: So be vigilant, Paul says to the Thessalonians.
SPEAKER_01: Encouraging vigilance means we ought not to be surprised when the Lord comes, but we do have to let our vigilance shape our character.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at verses four to eight.
SPEAKER_01: Be vigilant, that's how we encourage one another.
SPEAKER_01: Be self-controlled, that's how we encourage one another as well.
SPEAKER_01: But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, Paul writes, for this day to surprise you like a thief.
SPEAKER_01: You are children of the light and children of the day.
SPEAKER_01: We do not belong to the night or the darkness.
SPEAKER_01: So then let us not sleep like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled.
SPEAKER_01: For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm gonna stop there.
SPEAKER_01: Remember who you are.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Paul is saying here.
SPEAKER_01: Remember who you are as you vigilantly wait for that day of the Lord for Christ's return.
SPEAKER_01: Don't forget who you are.
SPEAKER_01: And who are we, Paul says?
SPEAKER_01: You are children of light and children of the day, verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: Light throughout Scripture represents God's holy and pure and dazzling and resplendent character.
SPEAKER_01: To be in the light is to be in God, as it were, to be to accord with God's character and with his reign in the world.
SPEAKER_01: To be in darkness is to be outside of God's will or outside of God's reign, or it's a deprivation of light.
SPEAKER_01: And we see that throughout Scripture, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: That's why in John chapter 8, Jesus can declare that I am the light of the world.
SPEAKER_01: He is the fullest revelation of who God is.
SPEAKER_01: So to be children of the light is to say, you and I belong to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: If we trust him as our Lord and Savior, and if he is the light of the world, then we are children of the light, called to bear his resemblance, much like a child bears the resemblance of her father or her mother, right?
SPEAKER_01: We bear out Christ's character in the world as children of light.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul repeats, we're children of light, children of the day as well.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, in one sense, he might just be hammering home the same idea, but I do think Paul is referring back to the point he's just made, that we live as people prepared for the day of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: We are people characterized by that hope, that future hope that will be realized when Christ comes again.
SPEAKER_01: We are people who live in anticipation of that day.
SPEAKER_01: We are children of the light who belong to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We are children of the day who look forward to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That's what defines us.
SPEAKER_01: That's who we are.
SPEAKER_01: And if that's who we are, then Paul is reminding us as Christians to be who you are, live out who you are.
SPEAKER_01: If we belong to Christ, then let your behavior reflect Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Be self-controlled.
SPEAKER_01: Paul repeats that twice in verses 4 and verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: Be self-controlled, which I don't take to mean Christians ought to be no fun.
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01: I think when we consider uh, well, Zephaniah 3, which we just read, and we consider the fact that all the whole story of Scripture leads us to this great wedding celebration and perfect union with God in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Christians should be those who know how to celebrate like no one else.
SPEAKER_01: Christians should be joyful, Christians should be full of celebration.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean all parts of life are worth celebrating, but it does mean we have a hope that will defeat the darkness.
SPEAKER_01: And therefore, we have good reason to celebrate and good reason to have hope.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean that Christians are no fun being self-controlled, but it does mean that in light of Christ's return, we conduct ourselves soberly, or perhaps you might say dispassionately, or perhaps we could say this: Christians conduct themselves presently as disciplined in light of our future hope.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you're a marathon runner, it requires discipline, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if I just think I can jump into a marathon, I don't even know how long a marathon is, apparently.
SPEAKER_01: If I think I can just hop in on a marathon without any preparation or training, I'd be fooling myself.
SPEAKER_01: But if I want to live in light of the goal of the marathon, then I need to discipline myself accordingly, don't I?
SPEAKER_01: And the spiritual life is much the same.
SPEAKER_01: If the goal is to meet our Lord Jesus, am I conducting myself?
SPEAKER_01: Am I letting my character be shaped by his word as such that my character increasingly conforms to that of Christ?
SPEAKER_01: We talk about sanctification as a work of the Holy Spirit who shapes our will and our conduct to look more and more like Christ so that we can reflect Christ more and more to one another and to the world.
SPEAKER_01: Be self-controlled is to say, you belong to Christ, you are children of the light, therefore be like Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Exhibit his character.
SPEAKER_01: Control those sinful urges in ourselves that lead us away from Christ, and instead give yourself wholeheartedly to being his disciple.
SPEAKER_01: We are self-controlled when we commit to studying God's word, to applying it to our hearts, to studying it one with another.
SPEAKER_01: We exercise self-control when we conform our character to his, even when that's a difficult thing to do, even when the selfish or the greedy thing is an easier thing to do when we decide against it for the sake of Christ, we are conforming our character to his.
SPEAKER_01: We're exercising that self-control that Paul is exhorting us to.
SPEAKER_01: But we also encourage self-control one with another as we participate in the life of the church together.
SPEAKER_01: When we get together to study the Bible, we are saying one to another that this is worth it, and that you are invited to do the same.
SPEAKER_01: We pray with one another, we worship with one another, we are together being formed as a community of faith into greater and greater conformity into Christ's character.
SPEAKER_01: And we need one another as we do that because we cannot do it alone, can we?
SPEAKER_01: We need one another.
SPEAKER_01: And we need one another to come alongside one another in encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: Be self-controlled is what Paul is encouraging us to.
SPEAKER_01: Be vigilant, be self-controlled.
SPEAKER_01: But encouraging self-control means our character, even though our character reflects the one to whom we belong, our character itself cannot be the hope, our hope, or our reassurance before him.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, let's bear in mind why Paul is writing this letter.
SPEAKER_01: He's writing a letter to a church community that's experienced death, that is experiencing all sorts of confusion and anxiety and fear around this possibility that Christ will return.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe Christ returns and he is not happy with us.
SPEAKER_01: Because in our heart of hearts, we have to admit.
SPEAKER_01: We've sinned against him.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is writing to a church community in need of encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul knows that to say, if you are vigilant enough and if you are self-controlled enough, then Christ will, you know, tolerate you enough to invite you into his kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: That is not the source of our confidence on the day of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: What is?
SPEAKER_01: What is our source of confidence?
SPEAKER_01: Because that is what Paul is encouraging us to be vigilant, to be self-controlled, but ultimately to be confident.
SPEAKER_01: Man, if if you are a Bible highlighter, Bible underliner, I hope you get your pen out right now.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 8, since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, there it is again, and put on the armor of faith and love and a helmet of hope of salvation, for God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
SPEAKER_01: Be confident is Paul's exhortation.
SPEAKER_01: We are not destined for wrath, Paul writes in verse 9.
SPEAKER_01: And isn't this what we're afraid of?
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, aren't we afraid that when God shows up, when we stand before him conclusively, he will look us up and down and go, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_01: And we face his anger, and we face his rejection, and we face his condemnation.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that what we are most afraid of?
SPEAKER_01: And probably somewhere deep down, because we know somewhere deep down we have not even lived up to our own standards of conduct, let alone God's standards of conduct.
SPEAKER_01: Don't we know deep down that that's what we deserve somewhere?
SPEAKER_01: Boy, it leaves us anxious and fearful, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: A lot like the Thessalonians are right now.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, Paul wants to remind us we are not destined for wrath.
SPEAKER_01: We are not destined for wrath.
SPEAKER_01: It's not about applying ourselves to pious religion or impeccable morality to earn God's favor.
SPEAKER_01: We have an assurance that we are not destined for wrath apart from anything we do.
SPEAKER_01: And what makes Paul so sure?
SPEAKER_01: Verse 9 again, God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us.
SPEAKER_01: What is our confidence on the day of the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: It is nothing we bring to the Lord, it is everything that the Lord has done for us in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Our salvation is as sure as the cross, is as sure as the resurrection, is as sure as his ascension, and is as sure as his return.
SPEAKER_01: Our confidence is not in what we have done for God's sake, it is in what God has done for our sake in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: When we appear before Christ, we have reason to be sure, hope-filled, and confident.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not because of what we've done, anything we've done.
SPEAKER_01: It's everything to do with what Christ has done for us.
SPEAKER_01: I learned recently, it's kind of an interesting fact, at least I found it interesting, that if you're caught in a raging forest fire, if the fires are just ri, you know, absolutely surrounding you, do you know the safest place you can be?
SPEAKER_01: The safest place is to run to where the fire has already wrought its devastation.
SPEAKER_01: To run towards the ash and burnt trees.
SPEAKER_01: And do you know why?
SPEAKER_01: Because fire doesn't burn twice.
SPEAKER_01: In a way, Paul is saying the safest place you can be when God's wrath burns rightly against evil and sin and everything that opposes him, do you know the safest place we can run is where God has already visited his wrath.
SPEAKER_01: And that's our Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: That's the cross.
SPEAKER_01: He willingly took our sin on himself completely on the cross, where God visited his wrath conclusively on him.
SPEAKER_01: So when we run to Christ, we run away from wherever God will visit his wrath at everything that opposes him.
SPEAKER_01: We run to the surest and safest place there can be, and we run knowing that we will not just be met by Jesus' toleration of us.
SPEAKER_01: We're met with arms of love.
SPEAKER_01: Because Christ was pleased to die for us.
SPEAKER_01: He was pleased to take the wrath that we deserve upon himself.
SPEAKER_01: We have every reason to be confident when we look to Christ and Christ alone.
SPEAKER_01: The Puritan preacher Thomas Goodwin puts it this way: Consider that Christ offered himself more willingly than ever thou didst sin.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: Consider that Christ offered himself more willingly than ever thou didst sin, no matter how eagerly we have transgressed against God's will, against God's commands, no matter how habitually or how often, Christ was even more eager to die for you and I out of his great love for us.
SPEAKER_01: We are not met with God's condemnation, because when we are in Christ, we are in the surest place we can be, and we have every reason to be confident in God's love and mercy to us.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that an assurance?
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that a confidence that we have before Him?
SPEAKER_01: And we as a community point one another to that hope.
SPEAKER_01: We don't say to one another, you know, if you just tried harder, God would be a little bit more happier with you.
SPEAKER_01: We point each other to Christ as the only one who can satisfy God's law and God's wrath and has done on our behalf.
SPEAKER_01: When we come to the Lord's table, we come as those who are reminded that Christ's body was broken for us and his blood shed for us, that he has done for us everything that needs doing so that we can be confident before God in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We need that encouragement, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: Because otherwise we will be thrown back on ourselves over and over again to just keep applying ourselves to the same religiosity and to the same morality that gives us no assurance before God.
SPEAKER_01: We need our Lord Jesus and the confidence that he gives, because spiritual discouragement is easy, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: And the Christian life can be difficult.
SPEAKER_01: But our obligation is to encourage one another, not to try harder, but to look to him, to be vigilant because he will come again, to be self-controlled because we belong to him, and we ought to behave, therefore, like him.
SPEAKER_01: But ultimately, because we have reason to be confident before him because of his great love for us shown on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: A church that puts the gospel into action encourages one another in all of these ways.
SPEAKER_01: So, friends, let's find reason to walk the spiritual journey with longevity and with joy because we have confidence in our Lord Savior and Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Let's encourage one another and build each other up, just as we're doing.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: We hope that you've been blessed by God's Word today.
SPEAKER_01: If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you.
SPEAKER_01: Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us.
SPEAKER_01: Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us.
SPEAKER_01: If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution.
SPEAKER_01: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.