Worship service 08/09/26.
Greetings and call to worship.
—Greetings and grace to the beloved of the Lord, mercy and peace be with you by the Spirit. As God has called us by His mighty word to worship Him in sincerity and truth, so by His grace we are delighted to hear and obey. The Lord’s day is a peculiar blessing to the people of God, therefore let us use it to the glory of God, and worship Him on the whole day with the whole heart. Psalm 111:1-3 says, “Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.” Inasmuch as the Lord’s righteousness endureth forever, so those who are clothed in it unto salvation. Let us therefore prove the work of the Lord within us and offer ourselves to Him in devoted worship, not the praise of the lips only but the inmost part of our very soul.
A Puritan minister writes,
A. The third reason annexed to the fourth commandment is, God’s own example, in resting himself from his works of creation on the seventh day, and therefore he would have us also to rest from the works of our particular calling, and sanctify a Sabbath in imitation of him. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day.”
The fourth reason annexed to the fourth commandment is, God’s blessing of the Sabbath, by virtue whereof we may hope for his presence with us in the duties of the day, and to receive blessings from him upon ourselves. “Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
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 [5] : 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 ought carefully, and with reverence, gravity, and wonder, to consider the verse before us, which saith, “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.” And although we might speak of its relation to the Psalm itself, and the voice of the LORD as manifested in the extraordinary natural phenomenon of a thunderstorm, yet let us consider the words themselves and the significance of the Hebrew expression. For the very vocabulary of Holy Scripture is everywhere and at all times divinely inspired and wholly intentional.
The phrase in the Hebrew, “Qōl-YHWH bakkōaḥ; qōl YHWH behādār,” is pregnant with meaning. The clauses are brief and without ornament, yet full of force: “The voice of the LORD—in power; the voice of the LORD—in majesty.” The meanbing is that His voice is powerful in efficacy, because nothing can resist or frustrate that which God speaketh; and it is full of majesty because it proceedeth from Him who is infinitely glorious in Himself, and whose royal dominion extendeth over heaven and earth. Nor is this an incidental expression in the Psalm; for the voice of the LORD is repeated seven times, and forms, as it were, the great thunder which soundeth throughout the whole.
The Psalmist, therefore, whilst thundering against creaturely pride and calling men to fear the LORD, is also instructing the Church concerning the attributes and majesty of God. He setteth the power and glory of God in contrast with false gods and false confidences, upon which the men of the world are so prone to rest their hopes. For when David saith, “The voice of the LORD is powerful,” it is as much as to say that all the power of man—his arm, his chariots, and his cities—are nothing before the might of God, who can speak them away with a word.
“The voice of the LORD is powerful.” As it is written in another Psalm, “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.” His voice both establisheth His own counsel and bringeth every counsel raised against it to nothing. He commandeth, and the world standeth fast; He speaketh again, and the devices of nations perish.
Note, that the voice which called the world into being shall also execute judgement upon the enemies of His kingdom. For it is written, “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” Thus all the vain thoughts of the heathen, all their idols, and the whole kingdom of Antichrist shall perish before the word of His power.
Yet the voice of God is manifested diversely in Scripture. In creation it is His effectual command, whereby all things were made; in providence it declareth His power and government; in election it is His sovereign ruling whereby He ordains some to everlasting life, and consigns others to everlasting destruction, in revelation it is His Holy Word, whereby He maketh known His sacred will; and in judgement it is the sentence by which His enemies are found guilty and destroyed. These manifestations are diverse and plenteous, and do constrain all nations and all peoples to worship the true God.
Moses saith concerning the revelation and worship of God, “Ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.” And again, “Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image.” Since God gave unto Israel His voice but no visible form, man may not presume to supply by his imagination that similitude which God deliberately withheld. The people of God are thereby taught to worship Him according to His own institution, and not according to the vain inventions of their hearts.
Nor is the voice of the LORD powerful only in its effects; it is likewise full of majesty in its manifestation. Men build great idols for themselves to look upon, great cities wherein to dwell, and great monuments by which they would immortalise their glory; but all is vanity and grasping for the wind, for “the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.” Men labour to make their glory visible in gold, stone, towers, and inscriptions; but God needeth no image or monument to proclaim His excellency. His voice alone filleth the heavens with majesty and maketh the works of their hands to tremble.
Their majesty must be built, guarded, and preserved; but His majesty proceedeth eternally from Himself. Their monuments decay, their cities fall, their idols are broken, and their names are forgotten; but the Word of the LORD endureth for ever. The invisible voice of God possesseth infinitely greater glory than all the visible splendour which men can raise unto themselves.
The people of God, therefore, revere His voice in creation with godly fear, receive His voice in Scripture with meekness, obey His commandments with devotion, believe His promises with all confidence, and wait upon Him with ardent hope for the fulfilment of His Word. In the thunder they hear the declaration of His power; in the Scriptures they receive the revelation of His will; and in the gospel they hear the promise of everlasting life through Jesus Christ.
Therefore let the righteous confess with David, “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.”
Opening Prayer.
—
Amen.
Lesson 95. [1.2.68.] The Contents of Holy Scripture: The Gospels. Matthew. The Gospel of the Kingdom. Part 2. The Sermon on the Mount.
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.
(Thomas Watson Beatitudes intro)
Read Matthew 5-7.
Governing principles of the Sermon on the Mount:
- The kingdom of heaven is the subject. The subjects of the kingdom, the righteousness of the kingdom, the standards of the kingdom, etc
- It is addressed to Christ’s disciples. “His disciples came unto Him” others hear, his disciples come and follow Him.
- The Beatitudes are descriptions of the blessed, not exhortations to moral civility.
- Christ does not contradict Moses.
- It ends as all Christian theology ends, with the final judgment.
Lessons from Matthew 5-7.
- The authority of Christ to preach came from His Father and not the Pharisees. Matt. 5:1-2
- The Beatitudes are a rebuke to worldly philosophy as much as comfort to the godly.
The world says, Blessed are the rich, the independent, the confident, the influential, the famous, the entertained, the ambitious, the rulers, the proud, the filled, the implacable, the attractive, the conquerors, the approved among men.
Christ saith,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”
- The Christian is to live in holiness and sobriety so that when men see their works, they glorify God and not the saint. Matt. 5:13-16
- Christ by the doctrine of the gospel does not abolish the moral law, or repudiate Moses, but He fulfills the law. Matt. 5:17-20, Rom. 3:31, 8:3-4, 9
- The righteousness required in Christ’s kingdom exceeds the outward and hypocritical righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, because it proceeds from a renewed heart and extends to the whole man. Matt. 5:17-20, 21. 27, 31
- On Marriage, divorce, remarriage and oaths, Matt. 5:31-37
- Christ forbids private revenge and teaches His disciples patiently to endure injuries, to overcome evil with good, and to love and pray for their enemies. (Secker) Matt. 5:38-48
- Religious duties must be performed before God and not as theatre before men; almsgiving, prayer, and fasting are corrupted when they are used to purchase human praise. Matt. 6:1-8, 16-18
- The Lord’s Prayer teaches the proper matter, order, reverence, dependence, and brevity of prayer: God’s glory and kingdom are sought before our temporal necessities, pardon, and deliverance. Matt. 6:9-13
- Our forgiving others does not merit the forgiveness of God, but a merciless and implacable spirit reveals that we have neither understood nor truly received the mercy for which we pray. Matt. 6:14-15
- Christ condemns hypocrisy and calls His disciples to lay up treasure in heaven, to preserve a single and enlightened heart, and to serve God rather than mammon. (For if you gain the praise of men, you have your reward) Matt. 6:19-34
- Christ forbids censorious, rash, and hypocritical judgment, but He does not abolish righteous judgment. Self-examination and repentance must precede brotherly correction. Discernment is necessary to discern brothers from dogs and swine. Matt. 7:1-6
- God, as a wise and gracious Father, gives good things freely to those who ask Him; therefore His children are encouraged to persevere in asking, seeking, and knocking. Matt. 7:7-11
- Right doctrine is the narrow way and right behavior the proof that we are on it. Justification by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone. Matt. 7:12-14
- Beware of false prophets and hypocrites in the church. You will know them by their fruits. Matt. 7:15-23
- Therefore if ye would enter into life, hear the word of God and do it. Matt. 5:17-20, 6:33, 7:24-27
- Our message is authority and not opinion. Matt. 7:28-29
Conclusion.
Closing Prayer.