WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:05.200 This fall we're contemplating our way through Psalm 23. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.599 And so we are in verse 5a this morning, the first part of verse 5. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.240 Let me read verse 4, going into 5. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:20.079 Last week we talked about verse 4 being in the valley, and then we're going to see ourselves being taken up to the high country today. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:26.000 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:29.920 For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:32.640 And 23, verse 5 for today. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:37.039 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:41.280 So point number one is this God is provider for our hearts through all of life. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:47.759 So if we think about verse 4 and we think about verse 5, this kind of covers the realm of life that we all experience. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:50.240 Low country and high country. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:57.119 Suffering, disappointment, and hurt, and then victory and hope and all the good stuff and the blessings. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:02.560 The author, King David, he used this language of table to speak of provision. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:06.239 So he was thinking about the high country when he used the word table. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:10.640 He wasn't thinking about your kitchen table or chilies or longhorns or he's thinking mountains. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:18.640 He's thinking the high country, or we could sometimes we'll use words like mesa or tables at the top of the mountaintops. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.319 This summer I hiked a ridgeline in North Carolina called Roan Mountain. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:24.560 Here's a picture of me up at the top. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:29.599 There I am, time of alive, happy as a lark, all by myself, up on top of this ridgeline. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:32.000 And this ridgeline is it's a table. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:38.079 It's high above the valleys, it's flat, it's bald, it's a table. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.480 And it's a table up above these valleys. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:41.280 It's beautiful. 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:44.239 It's five or six miles, you hike out and back, it's wonderful. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:53.200 And that morning, as I drove up through the valley to get up to that table, from the valley up, there's a 10-degree change. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:54.640 Have you ever done that? 00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:56.959 You ever driven somewhere and you start down and you work your way up? 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.519 By the time you get up, it's just all of a sudden 10 degrees, maybe 15 degrees colder. 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:03.040 High country. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:03.920 Isn't that amazing? 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.239 It's such a great feeling, especially in the summertime when you do that. 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:07.680 It's an amazing feeling. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:12.319 Now, here's an image of the tables of the cool tables, the high country of Israel. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:14.639 So this would have been in the high country of Israel. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:16.400 This is what David is thinking about. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:22.719 This is where David took his sheep in the summer to survive, to have provision, to have relief from the heat. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:29.840 So a thoughtful shepherd would know he needs to take his sheep to the table, to the high country. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.400 And the shepherds would always go first. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:35.759 They would scout it out, and then they'd come back for their sheep. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:37.199 Where would be a good spot? 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:38.400 Where can we camp? 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:39.840 Is there too many weeds? 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:41.520 Is the grass plentiful? 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.879 They go and clear the springs of the overgrowth. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:49.439 Because a good shepherd prepares for his sheep. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.719 This week it got me thinking about God's provision. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:56.000 Flashback to the story in John 8. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:58.400 It's one of my favorite stories in the New Testament. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:00.960 The Pharisees wanted to discredit Jesus. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:03.680 So there's a bit of the setup that happens. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:06.960 They find this woman, they catch her in adultery. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:08.000 Who knows where the man went? 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:12.319 They didn't really care because this woman was expendable to these men. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:14.960 And so they catch her in adultery. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.520 They drag her in front of Jesus. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:22.159 All these religious men get her, drag her in front of Jesus, in front of a crowd of people. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:24.719 We don't know her story. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:26.080 We don't get it. 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:30.639 We don't know her story, her background, how many failures she has. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:33.039 We don't know her story of hurt or woundedness. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:34.240 We don't know any of it. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:39.599 But we do know she has been caught in a failure, something she would not be proud of. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:42.240 She's being exposed, she's being belittled. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:48.719 And I guarantee you, she is just feeling the weight and the crushing weight of the world and religion on her. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:51.919 And these religious leaders want to stone her. 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:57.759 And they want to stone her because the law says that someone caught in adultery should be stoned. 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:02.560 So they're all ready with their rocks. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.439 But then they ask Jesus, hey, what should we do? 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:06.479 Trying to set him up. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:08.000 What's he gonna do here? 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:09.280 Law or compassion? 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:10.639 What's he gonna do? 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.680 But Jesus fulfills the law. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:15.360 He is our righteousness. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:17.920 He's the righteousness we don't live up to. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:25.040 God's justice is met in Christ, so we experience, and this woman experiences the compassion of Christ. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:26.240 Jesus stoops to the ground. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:27.199 Remember that part of the story? 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:27.839 It's so strange. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:28.720 He stoops to the ground. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:30.560 He starts, he's writing something, he's drawing something. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:32.399 We don't know what he's doing, right? 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:35.439 He's writing, you know, calling them names, drawing pictures. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:35.920 We don't know. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:37.199 We don't know what he's doing. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:38.240 No idea. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:39.040 But it's odd. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.800 It's a really weird moment in the story because he's just been asked a question. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:47.519 There's all these people, this woman's kind of exposed, she might get stoned, guys are ready to throw stone. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:57.600 And he bends down, starts writing in the dirt, and you can only imagine all the attention that had been on the woman shifts to Jesus. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:02.639 And that's a good moment for anybody who's exposed. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:10.319 And then he says, Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.240 And did you remember what happened? 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:17.600 First it's the older ones that drop their stones and walk away, and then the younger ones. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:21.839 And then it's just the woman and Jesus. 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:25.920 So she's relieved, but she's not quite sure. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:27.120 Is she loved? 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:28.480 Is she accepted? 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:32.959 And then Jesus just says to her, Who is left to condemn you? 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:34.800 Isn't that amazing? 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.120 Something for us to consider? 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:39.519 Everybody's left. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:40.959 Just Jesus and her. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.680 And basically he's saying, I'm not even here to condemn you. 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:47.040 He's there to love her and free her. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:57.199 The story's amazing because Jesus is the provider of relief to the rebellious, to the woman, but then also to the self-righteous, to the religious men, to both. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:03.519 See, that's a feast of grace for us and for them, for the woman and the religious men. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:11.439 In Christ, we don't have to live rebellious and condemned, nor do we have to live self-righteous and judgmental. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:17.600 We're freed from both those paths to rest in the gospel, what Jesus gives to us. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:24.000 So we get to live grateful and in love to others out of what he gives to us. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:25.680 Back to verse 5. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:30.399 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:37.360 So point number two is this God's provision is lavish even as enemies remain. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.279 So let's kind of dive deep here for a few minutes. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:42.480 Who are our enemies? 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:47.439 Just a few thoughts, a framework of who are our enemies when we say something like that. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:50.160 What are we actually talking about? 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:54.079 I mean, my first thought is Brandon in the eighth grade who called me nasty names. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:57.439 I mean, he was mean, he was mean as a snake, and that was his name, Brandon. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:06:59.600 If I knew his last name, I'd use his last name right now. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:02.000 I'm still holding that inside of me. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:03.279 It's real. 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:06.000 You have a Brandon, and you're like, oh, I still hate him. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:06.879 Still hate him. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:09.920 Okay, well, Brandon's not in the list of five, but he could be. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:11.279 He could be number six for me. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:12.160 You have your number six. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:14.560 All right, first one is this the inner enemy. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:18.800 We begin with ourselves, our deceitful hearts. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:22.560 We don't begin with those other people and that other group and that other person. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:23.920 We begin with us. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:26.959 Matthew 15, 18 through 20. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:30.560 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart. 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:32.959 And this defiles a person. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:40.000 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:42.160 These are what defile a person. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.920 But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:49.920 They're in a conversation about food and the law, and it's a bigger conversation. 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:52.079 But Jesus is saying it's about your heart. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:54.480 And we have deceitful hearts. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:56.879 Beautiful at times and deceitful at times. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.680 Have you ever wanted something and you shouldn't want it? 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:02.160 Yeah, I mean, you don't have to raise your hand. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:02.480 Yes. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:03.360 The answer is yes. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:04.480 You ever done something? 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:05.759 You shouldn't have done it. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:06.720 Yeah. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:08.959 Probably this morning. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:10.319 You ever said something? 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:11.199 You shouldn't have said it? 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:12.160 Yes, of course. 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:13.120 Right? 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:16.160 We can't seem to get it all together. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.480 We're plagued by an inner battle. 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:19.279 That's real. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:21.360 That's the deceitfulness of the heart. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.560 And it explains why you can't get it all together. 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:28.480 Created beautiful in the image of God, yet sinners in need of grace. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:29.759 Yet sinners, that's real. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.240 That explains you and it explains me. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:34.480 It's our beginning point. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:35.919 But there's another enemy. 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:38.879 Number two, the outer enemy, worldly values. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:39.840 That's real. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:41.519 1 John 2.15. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.080 Do not love the world or the things in the world. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:47.279 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:57.519 Now that word world in this verse is the pull of your heart and mind by systems of merit, performancism, and escape. 00:08:57.759 --> 00:08:59.200 See how that ties into John 8? 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:01.679 You got the woman and the self-righteous religious men? 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:02.879 That's what the world does. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:09.679 Try to get you to any other path other than gospel in this present life. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:14.879 To form an identity or forgiveness or wholeness on your own without God. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.519 To be your own savior, be your own God. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:19.360 The outer enemy. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:22.639 Number three, the stubborn enemy, which is the devil. 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:23.840 John 10, 10. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.240 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:31.519 I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:36.080 So at the core, the devil, the thief, it simply means liar. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:40.639 We don't have to get caught up in like a cartoon character version of the devil. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:45.600 The devil is the force and personality of evil in the world. 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:48.399 If you believe in evil, you can believe in the devil. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:50.480 You don't have to believe in a cartoon character. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:53.519 It's the force and personality of evil in the world. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:10:02.559 And even though we just we begin with our hearts, it doesn't mean that we don't have the reality of the devil in the world. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:08.000 Number four, the religious enemy, the misuse of the law. 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:10.799 2 Corinthians 3, 4 through 8. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:25.440 Here's Paul writings: such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:25.919 Okay? 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:27.679 New covenant, grace. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:31.279 Not of the letter, but of the spirit. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.240 So when he's talking about letter, he's talking about the law. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:37.759 What we should be: the law, the holy law. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:41.440 For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:58.480 Now, if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even given more glory? 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:06.960 So Paul is saying, he's referring back to letters on stone, Ten Commandments, he's talking about the law, everything we should be holy. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:08.399 It is holy. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:11.519 But the law is the way of demand. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:15.279 It always works in an if-then construct, if-then language. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:17.519 If you obey, you will be accepted. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:21.279 If you do whatever, whatever, doesn't matter. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:22.159 Fill in the blank. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:23.200 You can create your own law. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:25.440 It doesn't have to be religious law, it could be worldly law. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:33.759 If you do whatever, then I will be godly, then I will be okay, then I'll be whole, then I'll be enough, then I'll be forgiven. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:40.080 As soon as we enter that, we are under law, the language of demand, not grace. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:45.919 What the law does for us, the holy law guides us what is right. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:48.960 And then it crushes us. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:53.120 Because we do not always live righteous. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:56.720 So we are crushed into our need of God's grace. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:00.879 This is the new covenant to live by the Spirit under grace. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:09.519 And if you're wondering if you're living under grace or under law, all you have to do is take a little temperature of your heart. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:13.120 How exhausted am I and how condemned do I feel? 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:18.080 Because the law will produce exhaustion and condemnation. 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:24.960 The ministry of the new covenant, the spirit in you, it produces relief. 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:28.240 Number five. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:30.639 A bit of a mouthful here. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:33.679 The unstewarded trauma enemy. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:39.360 Not just trauma, but it being unstewarded. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:43.440 This is talking about our disappointment and our pain. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:46.799 Imagine this woman in John 8. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.679 I mean, she leaves forgiven. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:51.120 She knows she's forgiven. 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:53.120 She knows she's accepted by Jesus. 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:53.840 Hallelujah. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:54.639 Like so many of us. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:58.000 The trauma of this event. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:14.639 She was pulled out of a situation where she was making a huge mistake, and she is put in front of a crowd of religious people by religious people, by people she should have been able to trust. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:22.559 They are ready to kill her, and only when somebody else steps in do they let go of their stones and walk away. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:29.360 So she has been manipulated by people she should be able to trust, belittled publicly, exposed in front of a crowd. 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:31.279 That is traumatic. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:35.440 That would stick with her. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:39.919 Even as a forgiven person, that would stick with her. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:41.919 The trauma of it. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:51.039 Perhaps she would go on, just projecting at this point, perhaps she would go on with distrust of religious people, of religious leaders. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.639 Perhaps she would go on and have huge anxiety in crowds. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:58.480 Maybe she would have anxiety anytime she walked into a religious setting. 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:00.240 It could be very possible. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:05.679 Ignored trauma never goes away. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.000 Your ignored trauma, it doesn't go away. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:11.360 It stays inside of you. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.000 And it pops up here and there and there and there. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:24.720 We have to steward our wounds to become healed and have our wounds move from eating us up to being sacred. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:40.559 In Jesus, we're so secure that we're already forgiven and love that we can dare to actually feel, name, and process the pain that we thought would destroy us, but it won't. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:45.519 Jesus has endeared himself to us in our weakness. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:55.759 He endears himself to this woman in her failure, in her sin, and in her trauma. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.960 And as a church, we want to listen to you. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:02.720 We want to pray for you. 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:05.919 And if you want counseling, we're going to help you do that. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:10.320 Now I can't claim David had all that in mind in Psalm 23. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:12.240 Bible nerds, you're already thinking that. 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:14.480 Like, mayor, he has really gone on tangent here, right? 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.039 I can't claim that David had all that in mind. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:17.919 I can't. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:20.080 But all that is true for our lives. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:21.759 Those are enemies. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:23.600 We do know this. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:28.639 We know that all the animals would be moving up to the high country in the summer. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:29.759 Not just the sheep. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:36.799 It's not like as soon as the sheep got up to the high country to that provision and relief and the cool weather and the grass and the water. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:37.279 No. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:39.919 Their enemies would be up there too. 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:44.879 See, even in the abundance of provision, the sheep are still needy. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:52.399 It's a subtlety in the passage that keeps showing back up that David places the shepherd as the one to deal with the enemies. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:58.720 Here's what that means for us it means that we don't deal with our enemies by ourselves. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.080 We have God's Spirit inside of us. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:03.840 We are never alone. 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:06.960 And so we deal with our enemies with God. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.200 Point number three. 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:19.200 We live victoriously while still sinners through the provision already given to us in Christ. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:26.879 We live victoriously while sinners, still sinners, sinners and saints, through the provision already given to us in Christ. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:33.360 In case you have lived in a cave this week on Thursday, Queen Elizabeth passed away. 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:40.320 I think in a 45-minute time span, five people said to me, Did you hear Queen Elizabeth died? 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:41.279 Five people, I'm not kidding. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:43.039 In 45 minutes, say, Yes, I did. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:46.080 I heard it, you know, yes, I did, yes, I did, yeah, I got it. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:51.279 70 years as Queen of England, and now Charles is king. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:53.279 King Charles III. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:55.440 So I nerd out on some of this stuff. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:56.720 I'm like, what does that mean? 00:16:56.879 --> 00:16:59.120 You know, like I want to get into some details. 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:03.440 So he's now the sovereign monarch of a thousand-year-old monarchy. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:10.960 Most of the Queen's personal assets,$500 million of personal money, most of it transfers to him. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:25.359 Plus, now he's the benefactor of a trust that owns Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, land and castles and properties all over Great Britain, the Royal Art Collection, plus the monarch brand. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:26.240 It's a brand. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:27.440 I never thought about that. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:31.680 They actually sell merchandise, and he now is the benefactor of that. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:36.720 Tens and tens and tens and tens of billions of dollars of assets. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:42.400 Overnight, Charles became one of the wealthiest men in Britain. 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:44.240 And what did he do? 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:53.839 What did he do to have all this lavish provision, all this security, this position? 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:54.960 What did he do? 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:55.920 Here's what he did. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:56.640 Right here. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:17:59.279 He was born. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:01.279 He didn't do anything. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:03.680 He was just born. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:05.359 He was in the family. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:08.720 It's imputed to him. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:09.920 Right? 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:14.240 We talked about this word imputation, how beautiful this is for us as Christians. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:22.480 That we have a victory, we have forgiveness, we have righteousness that's imputed to us, not because of something we do, but because we're in the family of faith. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:29.599 Let me just remind us of the feast of provision that we have in Christ. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:34.240 I know maybe you wish it was for your bank account, but I can assure you it's not. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:37.039 Some of us wish it was, but it's not. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:41.119 It's a feast of provision for our inner life. 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:44.640 In Christ, there's a whole list of these. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:45.680 I'm just gonna read through them. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:48.799 In Christ, we are always forgiven and always righteous. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:50.960 Jesus is your righteousness. 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.640 In Christ, we have secure, forever acceptance and peace with God. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:58.400 Jesus is your peace. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:04.880 In Christ, we are never alone and have endless companionship. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:06.880 Jesus is your friend. 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:13.279 In Christ, we are liberated from performancism to live by the Spirit and freedom and love. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:14.799 Jesus is your freedom. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:20.079 In Christ, we are relieved of judgmentalism and empowered to live with love toward others. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:22.000 Jesus is your source of love. 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:26.880 In Christ, we are both deemed godly and becoming godly. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:30.240 Jesus is your empowerment toward holiness. 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:36.079 In Christ, we have a heavenly home prepared for us when our days on earth are over. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:37.920 Jesus is your home. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:44.480 Now, beloved, that is a position and provision that is lavish in the high country. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:50.160 That is a table to feast on, even while we still have enemies in this world. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:53.680 That's a huge provision for our hearts. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:57.200 There's a story in the New Testament, another table. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:03.599 It's just before Jesus is arrested, beaten, crucified, resurrected. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:06.160 Jesus having dinner with his disciples. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:10.480 Now all of the disciples at this point, provision is provided for them. 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:12.960 Their physical needs are being taken care of. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:16.559 They have shelter, they have food, they have water. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:28.559 And they're having this meal, and Jesus uses this physical provision, this table of food and wine, to speak of deeper needs that we all have. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:31.039 Matthew 26, 26 through 28. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:36.880 Now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, he broke it. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:41.759 And he gave it to his disciples and said, Take, eat, this is my body. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:43.119 And he took a cup. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:54.720 And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:59.039 And so that's what we do each week when we come to this table. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:03.200 This high country of provision. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:07.440 Of what we have in Christ, what's given to us in God's grace. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.559 It's a feast given to us in the form of a symbol when we come forward for communion. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:22.960 The new covenant of grace, the law fulfilled, Christ is our forgiveness, Christ is our righteousness, we are secure, and we do the we don't get it because we do anything. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:25.680 We do it because we're in the family of faith. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:30.480 And we feast on it, not because we're strong enough or we're good enough. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:35.599 We feast on it because we come forward the poor with open hands. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:37.680 An open heart and open hands. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:43.759 So we come forward to feast on the one who will never stop loving us and who has fully redeemed us. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:44.880 Let's pray together. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:54.079 Heavenly Father, we thank you for this feast of provision. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:22:10.799 We thank you that verse 4 is true and verse 5 is true, that you are with us in the valley, in our disappointment and our hurt, and that you have provided for us in this high country such a feast of provision for our hearts, and that we are sheep. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:12.880 We are weary and we are needy. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:14.960 We're more exhausted than we want to admit. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:18.319 We feel condemnation that we haven't even told anybody about. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:22.240 And we thank you that your provision speaks to all of it. 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:37.119 Help us to trust in you in greater ways to know this feast of provision. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:38.480 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:39.279 Amen.