Worship service 08/02/26.
Greetings and call to worship.
—Greetings and good morning saints and fellow laborers in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Grace, mercy and peace be with you and follow you through the love of the Father and the righteousness of the Son of God Jesus Christ. We are gathered once again on His holy Sabbath to worship and serve Him in spirit and truth as we are commanded, and as it is our delight so to do. He has put it into our hearts to love His worship, therefore are we come with gladness and godly sincerity. Psalm 33:8-12 says, “Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” Truly we are a blessed people to come before the Lord and worship His name, an honor denied millions of others in the world and in the false church today. Let us demonstrate our gratefulness with a life of joy and the diligent observance of His holy Sabbath day.
A Puritan minister writes,
There are four reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more effectually to induce and persuade us unto the strict observation of the Sabbath-day.
The first reason annexed to the fourth commandment is, God’s allowing us six days for our own employment. When he might have taken more time for himself, he hath taken but one day in seven, and alloweth us other six, which are sufficient for the works of our particular callings, and any kind of needful recreations. “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all which thou hast to do.”
The second reason annexed to the fourth commandment is, God’s challenging a special property in the seventh day. The seventh day, or Sabbath, being the Lord’s, which he hath sanctified and set apart from common use, to be employed in his worship, it is theft and sacrilege to alienate this day in whole or in part to our own use, any further than he hath given us allowance. “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”
Prayer unto the public reading of the Holy Scripture:
Our holy and righteous Father,
full of all glory, justice, mercy, and truth;
Our faithful and righteous God who will by no means clear the guilty,
yet thou showeth mercy unto thousands that love thee and keep thy commandments:
We come before thee in all holy reverence,
as those whom thou hast chosen in Christ,
redeemed by His precious blood,
called out of darkness,
and brought into the fellowship of the gospel
and the kingdom of thy dear Son.
We bow before thee in true humility,
acknowledging the severity of thy law,
the holy requirements of the gospel,
and our own vileness and unworthiness
to draw so near unto thee.
We confess, O Lord,
that apart from the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ
we lie under thy wrath and curse,
without hope, and without access to the covenant promises.
For we are guilty and polluted by sin,
unable of ourselves to repent, believe, or return unto thee.
Therefore we rest wholly upon thee for grace and mercy:
upon the Father’s electing love,
the Son’s obedience for acceptance with thee,
and the Spirit’s work to make us meet for thy service.
Pardon our iniquities,
cleanse us by the blood of Christ,
sanctify us by thy truth,
strengthen our faith,
subdue the lusts of the flesh,
and enable us to perform this holy service
in the strength which thou dost so freely supply.
And now, as we come to the reading of thy holy word,
grant a special blessing upon this portion of Scripture.
Make it effectual by thy Spirit
to build up thy Church,
and establish thy kingdom.
Open our hearts to receive the word with meekness;
give us eyes to see and ears to hear;
and cause us by thine own grace to live by it,
that we may be built up a holy temple in the Lord—even through Jesus Christ.
Our Captain, Governor, and Deliverer,
Our Prophet, Priest, and King. The Author and Finisher of our faith.
In His most worthy name we pray,
Amen.
Devotional and doctrinal exposition on the Psalms:
Psalm 29 [4] : 1 The Prophet exhorteth the princes and rulers of the world (which for the most part think there is no God.) 3 At the least to fear him for the thunders and tempests, for fear whereof all creatures tremble. 11 And though thereby God threateneth sinners, yet he is always merciful to his, and moveth them thereby to praise his Name.
A Psalm of David.
1 Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.
2 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory maketh it to thunder: the Lord is upon the great waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is mighty; the voice of the Lord is glorious.
5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He maketh them also to leap like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
7 The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord maketh the wilderness to tremble; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
10 The Lord sitteth upon the floods; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.
11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.
Exposition:
—We saw previously that the Lord, by His voice, showeth Himself to be the supreme Governor of the world; and because of this it is the height of madness for men to deprive Him of that service and worship which are due unto Him. And this Psalm is striking for that very reason: even that those who are enthroned in earthly majesty and honour are bound by the divine law, and admonished by mighty thunderings, to serve God and offer their praise and devotion unto Him alone.
For when Scripture requireth that men give unto God the honour which is due unto Him in vocal praise, it no less requireth those works of obedience which they are bound by the same law to perform. God’s law is not received in part, nor selectively, but as a whole, even the first table with the second. The men of this world are not only exhorted to render unto their neighbour that regard which is due unto him, but are bound alike by creation and by the law to render unto God His due fear and praise—a service seldom performed by them. For praise which is contradicted by the life is not true praise; neither can the mouth honour God whilst the will deliberately refuseth His authority.
Thus the argument of the Psalmist is agreeable and forceful: agreeable, because it presenteth men with an object proportioned unto their sight and understanding—a storm rising above the seas, a tempest thundering in the heavens and moving over the great waters; and forceful, inasmuch as the very sound and trembling of thunder constrain men to bear witness unto the majesty and terribleness of God.
Though they will not submit unto Him under the common acts of His providence and the visible manifestations of creation, yet none but the most impudent, hardened, and insensible can stand before a great storm, which threateneth their lives with terrible force, and continue without inward testimony unto the divine power. The heavens have spoken against them, and the thunder hath left them without excuse.
Therefore, a thunderstorm, and other extraordinary natural phenomena, are arguments whereby God declareth His majesty and glory, which men are commanded to acknowledge and ascribe unto Him. He doth not become worthy of praise by such demonstrations, for He is eternally and infinitely worthy in Himself; but by them He revealeth unto dull and brutish men something of that power and excellency which they are by nature bound to confess.
God doth sometimes command obedience without revealing unto us the particular reason or outcome of His command, as the trial of Abraham plainly proveth. His authority alone is sufficient to bind the conscience. Yet His usual dealing with men is that of gracious condescension, in that He often annexeth reasons, demonstrations, warnings, and visible testimonies unto His commands. Since He hath commanded that men fear Him from the heart, as David here argueth, He also showeth them, in the storm, the power of His arm and something of the glory of His nature, that they may perceive the righteousness of that fear and praise which He requireth.
Let us therefore not be slow of mind and slow of heart to believe Him, love Him, and fear Him; but let us submit unto Him before the storm cometh and beateth upon the ship. Let us follow hard after Him in the sunlight, and let us also learn not to be so impudent as to turn away from Him when He doth shake the heavens with thunder and rock the ship with wind and waves.
Behold, Christ is there in the storm with us. The same divine voice which thundereth over the waters in the Psalm is manifested in Him who rebuked the winds and the sea, and they obeyed Him. And He is not only with us in the storm, but Lord over it, and hath all power to calm the seas by His word.
“Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?”
Calvin—
David now rehearses the wonders of nature which I have previously referred to; and well indeed does he celebrate the power of God as well as his goodness, in his works. As there is nothing in the ordinary course of nature, throughout the whole frame of heaven and earth, which does not invite us to the contemplation of God, he might have brought forward, as in Psalms 19:1, the sun and the stars, and the whole host of heaven, and the earth with its riches; but he selects only those works of God which prove not only that the world was at first created by him, and is governed by his power, but which also awaken the torpid, and drag them, as it were, in spite of themselves, humbly to adore him; as even Horace was compelled, though he was not only a heathen poet, but an Epicurean, and a vile contemner of Deity, to say of himself in one of his Odes, — (Lib. I. Ode 34.)
“A fugitive from heaven and prayer,
I mocked at all religious fear,
Deep scienced in the mazy lore
Of mad philosophy; but now
Hoist sail, and back my voyage plough
To that blest harbour which I left before.
“For, lo! that awful heavenly Sire,
Who frequent cleaves the clouds with fire,
Parent of day, immortal Jove;
Late through the floating fields of air,
The face of heaven serene and fair,
His thund’ring steeds, and winged chariot drove,” etc.
Experience, too, tells us that those who are most daring in their contempt of God are most afraid of thunderings, storms, and such like violent commotions. With great propriety, therefore, does the prophet invite our attention to these instances which strike the rude and insensible with some sense of the existence of a God, and rouse them to action, however sluggish and regardless they are. He says not that the sun rises from day to day, and sheds abroad his life-giving beams, nor that the rain gently descends to fertilise the earth with its moisture; but he brings forward thunders, violent tempests, and such things as smite the hearts of men with dread by their violence. God, it is true, speaks in all his creatures, but here the prophet mentions those sounds which rouse us from our drowsiness, or rather our lethargy, by the loudness of their noise. We have said, that this language is chiefly directed to those who with stubborn recklessness, cast from them, as far as they can, all thought of God. The very figures which he uses sufficiently declare, that David’s design was to subdue by fear the obstinacy which yields not willingly otherwise. Thrice he repeats that God’s voice is heard in great and violent tempests, and in the subsequent verse he adds, that it is full of power and majesty.
Opening Prayer.
—Our glorious and faithful Father in heaven,
the God of glory, whose voice is powerful and full of majesty:
We give thee thanks for thy holy word,
which returneth not unto thee void,
but accomplisheth that which thou pleasest
and prospereth in the thing whereto thou hast sent it, even the salvation of thy church and people through sound doctrine.
Speak therefore unto us with power, O Lord,
and cause the voice of thy truth to subdue our hearts, awaken our consciences,
and build us up in faith and holiness.
Teach us to receive thy word with meekness,
not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God.
Give us ears to hear, hearts to understand,
and grace to bring forth fruit worthy of thy kingdom.
We praise thee above all for the incarnation of thy Son,
Jesus Christ, God with us;
who took upon Him our nature, fulfilled all righteousness,
bore our sins, and redeemed us from the curse of the law.
Thou hast been faithful to thy promises,
and in Him all thy promises are Yea and Amen.
Therefore bless now the preaching of thy word.
Clothe thy servants with faithfulness and boldness.
Let the glory of the Lord be revealed in the word,
and let all within thy temple hear, and speak of thy glory.
All this we ask through Jesus Christ,
our Prophet, Priest, and King,
in whose holy and most worthy name we pray.
Amen.
Lesson 94. [1.2.68.] The Contents of Holy Scripture: The Gospels. Matthew. The Gospel of the Kingdom.
Westminster Confession of Faith 1.2.
Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments,
Genesis—Malachi. Matthew.
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.
Intro.
Read Matthew 1-4.
Lessons from Matthew.
- The place of Matthew in the fourfold gospel. The gospel of the kingdom (distinguished from prophetic servant, priest and son of Man, Divine Son of God). The gospel of faith (distinguished from hope, joy, love). The gospel of righteousness. The gospel of teaching. The gospel of church authority. The gospel of discernment and judgment. The gospel of the lion (distinguished from Ox, Man, Eagle). The gospel to the Jews (distinguished from Romans, Greeks, the World). The gospel of the fulfillment of the scriptures. The gospel according to the Father (distinguished from Son, Spirit, Triune).
- Matthew begins with a genealogy. (the doctrine of authoritative continuity, faith, the covenant and the church)
- This genealogy contains reference to women who were brought in and were members of the covenant line by extraordinary means. (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, her who had been the wife of Uriah, Mary who brought forth Christ as a virgin)
- The genealogy points to the Davidic and Abrahamic lines with Christ as the fulfillment, see Luke which traces the line to Adam.
- The genealogy brings us back to Genesis and the necessity for a true sacrifice for sin.
- The fourteenth generation from Babylon to Christ is the church.
- Christ does not bring potential salvation but is the salvation of His church and people. Matt. 1:21
Conclusion.
Closing Prayer.
Administration of the Supper.
YouTube Audio: https://youtu.be/BFBbLfqZW6Q