Faith in a Great God
First B Jackson
2023-07-02

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Alright. Good morning, everybody. How are you? I see red, white, and blue out there. It sounds like it's a patriotic week coming up for sure.

Would you stand up and we're gonna sing it? And yes, it's a southern accent, and yes, it's the battle hymn of the republic. They left out all of those ugly verses, and don't sing about your tincture hitting you with a ruler when you get to the chorus. Alright? Here we are.

It's

trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He had ceased the of his terrible swift sword. His truth is marching on. I have seen him in the watch bars of a 100 circling camps. They have builded him an altar in you and me We can almost hear the trumpet sound, the Lord's return its near.

There are still so many people lost his message, they must hear. Father, give us one more moment, one more day, just one more year.

Amen. How about another one? America the Beautiful. A pre, a plea, a prayer We will go up for the fourth verse. Key change on the fourth verse.

Y'all can have a seat. Thank you. Amen. A few announcements this morning. Monday night.

So, this is the today is the July 2, July 3. Monday nights at first B is happening in the Fellowship Hall, 06:00 in the evening. Meal, music, and a message. This patriotic American week, we are having a big Mexican meal tomorrow night down the hall. So Carl will be preaching the message.

Felix in Guadalupe will be preparing the meal and then the music will be the band that plays the the 09:00 service. That'll be fun. Monday nights at first B if you want to gather Fellowship Hall 06:00 and the next day, join us on the lawn on this side this week on the West Side Lawn. That's where the parade will come by on Glenwood. It's a great place to gather.

So, join us on the lawn for the Fourth of July parade right out here. For the church camp out, this is a full week. Church camp out is also this week, July seventh through the ninth and it's going to be held down at the Palisades Lake down Alpine. I don't see Mike in here but Mike Demetrius, our youth director is the guy in charge. They've got a pretty good group site available down there.

July 7 through the night, Palisades Lake. He told me this morning, First B will provide the breakfast. We'll bring all the stuff that you need for your meals for lunch and supper, Picnic as you normally would but first deal handle breakfast. So, July seventh through the ninth, Palisades Lake. Call Mike if you need any more information.

690-4090 is his number. Vacation Bible School happened this week and I have heard good about all that went on. It was wonderfully attended for one thing. There were over 100 kids that were coming and there were a lot of volunteers. If you're a volunteer, thank you so much.

People were directed towards the loving heart of Jesus this week at Pets Unleashed and it was all decorated and ready on time and then Wednesday by the time I could get back here, it was already all down and and cleaned up everything. It was amazing. So, three days power pack, Vacation Bible School. Thank you. Right now, media is like Christian Netflix, okay?

This is a Christian streaming service. If you'd like to be included in it so you can watch Bible studies or other Christian content on your phone or on your television at home. If you'll let us know that you want to be included, we will do that. We pay for it but y'all don't have to, okay? That's the way that goes.

You can talk to Nick and another one, Nick Staren is our office assistant and tech guy. He is compiling the church directory. And if you would send us a horizontal photo, name, phone number, email address, mailing address, so that we can stay in touch. It's really helpful. We have old church directories, paper type church directories, and we will print these up too, but they'll be available digitally too.

If you get with Nick, he will take a picture and get it all ready. Last week, we did the first first BBQ, and it was of success. So we're going to keep doing it once a month during the summer. July 23 is the next one and then August 27. And if September looks like it's still possible, maybe we'll do one in September too.

So games, food, and fellowship in between services on the twenty third, twenty seventh, July 23, and August 27. That's coming up. Jackson Hole Men's Alliance is meeting this Wednesday. That'd be the fifth. Wednesday morning, 06:30AM, if you want to come and be a part of that.

Jackson Hole Men's Alliance. It's not just First B but other guys from around the valley that are believers. The eleventh. So July 11. That would be is that Tuesday?

Second, ninth? Tuesday. Next week. July 11 is Compass Women's Care, which was formerly Turning Point. Compass Women's Care is doing their annual benefit gala.

It's called Love Them Both, 07/11/2023, 05:30 to 07:30 in the evening. Carolyn stood up in the first service and said they're going to have three stories of people's lives that have been impacted, changed for the positive good. And I would imagine that that really is more than three people involved, but there are three folks that will be telling the stories. So annual benefit for Compass Women's Care, July 11. If you'd like to attend, please let us know.

She also said the RSVPs are due by tomorrow. So if you got the thing in the mail, let them know you're coming, please. And if you want to know anything more that's kind of like those announcements, you can sign up for the weekly bulletins, firstbjackson.org and we'll send them to your email that you give us. Is there anything I've forgotten? In the first service, I didn't forget.

But in the first service, we did a baby dedication for Avery Elaine Gibson. So, you know Josh and Leah Gibson, they have four girls. Their fourth one's itty bitty and she we kind of gave her the the blessing this morning. I I told him, we do believers baptism here. So, it's not a it was not a baptism but if you're Presbyterian, it was kind of like a dry baptism, okay?

That's that's just to kind of covenant with the church that hey, we're here for a reason and we want for you to your help in dedicating this child to the Lord. So that's what we do. And would you stand with me? We're going sing Faith of Our Fathers. Not to be confused with God of Our Fathers.

Tune is very different. Words are similar in sentiment. Okay. That's an optional extended or choral ending and then I have no idea where we went from there. Can we reset on the third verse, Blake?

Just just go in order until we all stop singing. Okay? Sorry. That's on that's on me, not on you. Thank you.

Thank you. Alright. Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this place. Let's sing it again.

Of the Lord is in this place. I can feel his mighty power and his grace.

Y'all can have a seat. Would you pray with me for God's blessing on this offering? Lord, I pray that you would bless everything that is given over to you. Lord, you are the giver of every good and perfect gift. You have an intention when you give to us.

Lord, that we would live life with an open hand. I pray that we'd be generous towards, those who are less fortunate than we are in our personal everyday life. I pray, Lord, that we would find ourselves to be a part of the body of Christ that is continuing on. We would be lending our words and our actions and our resources, Lord, to see the gospel advance. Lord, would you use this assembled gathering of believers?

I'm sure they're they're visitors here. They're from all over the world. Lord, we have unity within the body of Christ. I pray lord that you would bless everything that we give back to you. You would do your will and your way.

In Jesus name, that is our plea, lord. Amen. Thank you, Judy. We're up to Luke 17. So, last week, we did all of chapter 16 of Luke carried together.

This thing's flashing red, Blake. I don't know if that means I need batteries or something but I might need them in a minute. We did all of chapter 16 last week. That's not usually preached together as a unit but I think that it bears doing so because it does all go together. This week, we're doing chapter 17, just the first 10 verses.

And depending on which commentaries you read, depending on who you talk to, you'll see this characterized a lot of different ways. For warnings from Jesus, for his disciples. It is very specific. This lesson is not disciples and pharisees and sadducees and isms and Herodians and everybody else. It's not everybody all around.

This one, it says Jesus is speaking to his disciples, so we'll go with that. He's speaking to his disciples then and still the ones now. Thank you very much. And so the four warnings is what some people say. Some say four directives, some maybe injunctions.

I was looking through a thesaurus for some of these. Proverbs, a lot of people say they're like proverbs because they don't go together. They're just there. Four different ones. But you know what Luke said at the beginning?

Luke one three, he said, Theophilus, I'm trying to give you an orderly account. I mean, it's God's word. And Proverbs, certainly, it says at the beginning, this is a compilation of a bunch of short, sweet, little sayings that'll help you in your life. This one is Jesus speaking to his disciples. Do you think there are four disconnected thoughts from Jesus?

I don't. I think they probably go together. So I'm gonna preach them like they go together. Some commentators disagree with me, but that's okay too. They're still good.

It means the same thing either way. I feel like there's connective tissue, although grammatically, there's not. So it doesn't say because of this, then this, therefore that, but it doesn't do that. It's four compact little units. The last one being a little longer than the rest, but I don't think they're disconnected thoughts.

This section, 10 verses on false teaching to begin with, then forgiveness, then faith, and then service. So here we go. That is all we're gonna cover today, just so you know. That's as much as we're gonna hit today. One through 10, but I'll go through it where you can read it, actually.

Here we go. Now, he said to his disciples, and that was those guys then. You see the capital d? No. It's a small d.

It's to the disciples. It's to people who are following Jesus. He's their teacher and they're his students. If you consider yourself to be a follower of Jesus, this applies to you, disciple. Now he said to his disciples, it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come.

I'll come to stumbling blocks in just a minute. I'll let you know what the word is and all that. Now he said to his disciples, it's inevitable that stumbling blocks come. I see some of you have your Bibles, and it might say enticements to sin. It might say stumbling block, but it's inevitable that stumbling blocks are gonna come.

They're gonna come along. We live in a fallen world, but woe to the one through whom they come. So this is a pronouncement of woe on anyone who is enticing someone else into sin. Okay? Skandala is the word.

That's the plural of skandalone. Skandalone is a stick for bait of a trap. Generally, it's a snare. It's a stumbling block or an offense. That's what the word means.

So do you get the picture of that? It is it is inevitable that these things are gonna come along. If you're wandering through life, you're gonna hit a place where there is a trap and it's baited and ready. The means of stumbling is the emphasis here. It stresses the method or the means of entrapment, the stumbling block or the bait stick.

It is how someone is caught by their own devices. When you're trying to trap a bird, you put something that a bird would like. Right? That it would be drawn to. When you're trying to trap a a rodent of some type, you put something that they would like, and that draws them in.

So your personal bias, carnal thinking, there is an enemy who is enticing us toward things that would distract us from God. So woe to him, the enemy, but also woe to the servants of the enemy who would do the same. So it says, he said to his disciples, it is inevitable that these snares would come along. But woe to the one who is setting these traps. Woe to the one who is tending these traps.

It's better for that person. It can be male and female. It says him. It's like Spanish. When it includes both, it says him.

Alright? So it can be his or hers. It is better for them if a millstone is hung around their neck and they're thrown into the sea, then that he may cause one of these little ones to sin. Little ones means children, but it also just means little ones. When first John calls us dear flock, little ones, it's talking about new believers, people who have come into the faith.

Now, he's just gotten through talking to the pharisees who were lovers of money about all of the stuff that they're getting entangled in, and they're trying to entangle other people in. And then when he's with the disciples, he said, listen. There's gonna be pitfalls on both sides. You're gonna be tempted towards legalism, and you're gonna be tempted towards licentiousness, and there will be people on both sides who are trying to draw you off of the good old gospel way. Okay?

They will try to draw you into living legalistically and analyzing everything and feeling like you can do it on your own. And these will try to say, it doesn't matter what you do. We're all here, man. Everything's free. Okay?

Both sides are wrong. And Jesus says, it's an it's inevitable that the stumbling blocks come. But woe to the one through whom they come, either side that's pulling you off the beam. It's better for them if a millstone's hung around their neck, thrown into the sea. That sounds like a terrible image.

If you've ever felt like you were gonna drown, it's a terrible image. To be held under, millstones are huge. Thrown into the sea. That he may cause one of these little ones to sin. So it is an enticement to sin.

And the very next line says, be on your guard. Now, it is individually be on your guard, but it is collective because that's a plural your there. So it's be on y'all's guard. Y'all, be careful. Be on y'all's guard.

Collectively. You know when he says the 99 sheep are are good in the field together? If they're holding each other together, that's a good thing. But when that one wanders off, it's saying, on your guard because there are folks trying to pull you off both sides. Be on y'all's guard collectively.

So this is on false teaching. It might even be best to say it's on enticement to sin. I wanna say that for me, in this position, I think a lot about James saying not many of you should be teachers because you will incur a harsher judgment. Like, an hour of listening to this sermon and going, oh, that was harsh, is not three weeks of preparing to give this sermon where I go, I have to live this? Right?

So internalizing it, I never want to be guilty ever of preaching heresy, something that's not true, or of saying that something that is not okay with God for me to say that that's okay. So if I were to step away from the scripture and say, you know what? Everybody does it. It's everybody does it. It's it's common.

God will forgive you. Well, I mean, it's true. God does forgive. But for me to entice you to sin so that God could forgive you is a horrible, horrible, horrible disservice to you, and it'd be better for me to have a millstone around my neck. That's bad.

So for insiders, for pastors, teachers, elders, teachers, parents, people who are in charge of and have some authority in some way over other people, There's a be careful that you don't do this. But there's also saying, it's inevitable stumbling blocks will come. The devil's got a trap on both sides all around us all the time. And there are plenty of people in this society and in culture and in the world who will say, it's ridiculous for you to believe that old book anyway. You would be so much better off if you just shed yourself of the guilty feeling.

What God is out to eliminate is the actual guilt. That's why Christ died. You can't just say, well, guilt doesn't exist. No. Guilt exists.

We stand under the wrath of God until we have accepted the grace of God. So once you've accepted it, certainly don't promote sin. And if there are forces outside of the church, the body of Christ, continuing on, societal and cultural forces that would entice people to sin, then of course there are. That's what it says. It's inevitable that those things are coming along because that's what we live in is a fallen world.

But woe to the one. There is judgment on the enemy, and there will be judgment on anyone who sides with him over Christ on false teaching. That's what that covers. Now, can see it is disconnected, but it flows immediately. In fact, some people think be on your guard, the beginning of verse three, goes with that first portion.

Portion. There's gonna be false teaching. Be careful you don't do it. Be careful you don't go for it. The bait of Satan is just out there.

Don't go for it. Right? Be on your guard collectively. But then, it really kind of goes with the next one. The translators, the people who added the numbers, also believe that it went with the second part of the story.

Be on your guard if your brother sins. So be on your guard. If your brother sins, because that might happen. It it does say though, this is to disciples, and it says if your brother in Christ. Right?

If your brother sins. Okay. So this is not just the world doing what they do because that's what they do because that's whose they are. If your brother sins, if one of you who is claiming faith in Christ, if your brother sins, rebuke him. Oh, we're good at rebuking everything outside of.

Right? We're pretty good at that. But if your brother sins, rebuke him. And rebuke It's a good word. It's a good translation, but I'm only gonna look at it in Greek.

The definition of epitemison is to honor, to mete out the proper or due measure, to censure, which is correction. Usage is often used as I rebuke, I chide, I admonish. All of those have a negative sense in our culture. All of those have a negative sense in our language for the most part. The last one is warn.

So to rebuke, if your brother sins, to rebuke. It is properly to assign value as is fitting the situation. Building on, epi, the situation to correct and redirect. So you're looking for teachable moments. If someone is treading near the edge of an open pit, and you say, Oh, we just back set.

Come on back. Come on back. You're right at the edge of a pit. That's a way of warning and redirect and correct. That's a good thing.

It's not a bad thing. A rebuke is seen as being so awful. But I sign the value that's fitting the situation. If God says, flee sexual immorality, and he says it multiple times in multiple places, what should we say? Flee sexual immorality because it's not good for you.

God's glory and our good is his intent. So assign the value that's fitting the situation. To warn by instructing. It can mean rebuke, although that sounds pretty harsh in English. But its fundamental sense is a warning that prevents something from going wrong.

Road closed. Right? You can go around that sign if you want to, but it's hard to say you didn't see that orange and white sign that was across both lanes of traffic. You know? You need to at least give that.

So if your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive it. Amen. That's wonderful. If he repents, you've won your brother is what it says in Matthew.

Matthew 18. Everybody goes to Matthew because it's a elongated version of how to forgive, how to win your brother. If your brother sins, rebuke him, admonish, chide, warn, whatever. And if he repents, forgive him. That's a good thing.

It's like, hey, man. I saw that you went for the bait back there. I I think that's a dangerous road to go down. I love you enough to say, man, come on back over here on the good old gospel way. I think somebody pulled you off the beam.

Or somebody's pulling you off the beam on this side. Either way. If he repents, oh man, you know what? I did. It felt funny when I did it the first time, but I'm glad I didn't get desensitized to it and stay over there.

Thank you, man. I'm back. Amen. Forgive him. Wonderful.

Which is, by the way, the opposite of cancel culture. Right? Cancel culture is once you've done something, said something that is reprehensible once, it's like, oh, never listen to that person again. Everything they've ever preached or taught in their life is worthless because that guy said it. I actually was gonna use a quote right here in this sermon, and I looked up who said it, and I'm not gonna say it.

Isn't that terrible? Y'all will be asking me that one for days. And if he sins against you, oh, no. It's personal. It's not just their sin out in the world somewhere.

This is within the fellowship and their sinning against you. So against me, let's say. If someone sins against you seven times a day, That's a hard thought. If someone sins against you seven times a day and returns to you seven times, saying it's hard to believe them if they've done it seven times in a day. If they come to you and said, oh, I just gossiped against you.

Forgive me. I repent. I don't wanna ever do that again. And then five minutes later, say, oh, yeah. Hey.

It it begins to be hard to believe that they really meant that repentance. Right? But how does God forgive us? Very graciously, very mercifully. He says, come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.

He does that primarily through forgiveness. If someone sins against you seven times a day and returns to you seven times saying, I repent, you shall forgive him. There is so much power in forgiving people. Y'all have heard it before. I'm just it's good, so I'm gonna say it again.

Unforgiveness is a poison pill that you take and expect the other person to die. Okay? It's killing you. It's rotting your bones. It's not good for you.

You should forgive them. And you can forgive somebody whether they repent or not. Because vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. Either they are going to be justly condemned by God for what they've done, or they're gonna be mercifully forgiven. And either way, it shouldn't weigh you down.

You've been commanded to forgive. Be forgiving. It's part of who God is and how he is. Now we've been shown to avoid false teaching ourselves and not go for the bait from outsiders. Now we've been instructed to be forgiving.

I think those two things kinda go hand in hand. Occasionally, we'll get off this beam because that happens. But if someone rebukes you, be ready to repent. Be ready to instead of, I can do whatever I want to. I'm an American.

I'm free. I can do just as I please. Yes. You can. All things are permissible.

Yeah. Go right ahead. But not all things are profitable. And what I was trying to say to you was to bring you back. You can say either in pride, I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do.

Alright. Or in humility, wow. I didn't see it that way, but now I do. Thank you. Okay.

And then you're forgiven. You're back in the fellowship. You're stronger than you were before because you know that you are welcome back. So on forgiveness, that's that. Next, it says immediately thereafter.

And I see this as connective tissue. You may not, but I do. Your brother sins, rebuke him. If you repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times a day.

Oh my goodness. I told, I don't know how many people what you said in your sermon, and that is not what I said in that sermon. Okay. This is this is a pastor's deal. I actually got called out by somebody from another church, and they said, I heard that you're teaching this.

This is recent, actually. And I said, I'm not teaching that. And then, well, this person says that you are. And I said, they have missed my point entirely. I need to go to them and instruct.

I'm so sorry. But I didn't teach that. Not going to teach that. Don't believe that. So take the rebuke, and then if the person seven times is saying, and they've said it to a lot of different people, this is what pastor Ray teaches about so and so.

That's really hard for me. But I forgive them. But the thing is, the apostles, when they heard this teaching, they said, increase our faith. That's not the way I have. I don't have the kind of faith you have, Jesus.

I know that you're forgiving. I know that. We see having the New Testament, we see him receive and correct, but receive Peter back into the family, restore him completely after his denials. We see that Jesus stands ready to forgive. And the apostles, when they are in the face of this teaching for disciples, they said, oh, Lord, increase our faith.

I I don't have what it takes to be able to do that the way you're instructing me. They're right. In our human condition, we do not. But because God first loved us, we can love others. Because God has given us mercy, we can be merciful to others.

Because he's given us grace, we can be gracious to others. The apostle said, Lord, increase our faith. And so the next section that people see, paragraph is, the apostle said to the Lord, increase our faith. But the Lord but the Lord said so this is kind of a connective little piece that's a disjunctive. But the Lord said, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed it it doesn't take much.

It just takes a little bit. If you had faith the size of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree I imagine him pointing to a mulberry tree. They're about 20 feet tall, black little berries, black mulberries on them. About 20 feet tall, rounded top. They have a root system that the rabbinical literature said was profound.

I'll get to that in a minute. It goes down at least 20 feet deep and further out than the branches. Usually, trees are about the same on the bottom as they are on the top. This goes out even further and it's very durable. The Lord said, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, the littlest proverbially, the littlest of all the seeds, you could say to this mulberry tree, which is 20 feet tall with very deep roots.

So the rabbinical literature said that it has roots that stay in the ground for six hundred years. Okay. I don't like digging in the dirt. Honestly, if I want to dig in the dirt, I'm going do it with a backhoe. I can't stand digging holes.

And so I don't like agricultural stuff. I don't like weed in gardens and whatnot. And that's just weeds. But a mulberry tree? It's got a footprint that's 30 feet around or thereabouts and goes like 20 something feet deep.

That's crazy. And if you're gonna dig that out and really remove it, it's profound. This is hyperbole. When Jesus says, a camel going through the eye of a needle, immediately everybody says, that's ridiculous. His next sentence is, what's impossible for man is possible with God.

So he's saying, black mulberry tree, that'd take months probably for one person to do it, weeks for a teen. But he's saying, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to the small berry tree, be uprooted and be planted into the sea. Wow. And it would obey you. There's a weird little grammatical thing in there.

It's it's it's kind of interesting. I can't exactly explain it, and there's no good way to do it with proper English. It it is as if the mulberry tree is waiting to be moved. It's sitting there sitting on ready, and then just with an act of faith, it does it. Okay?

Now, you might say, why won't Lord increase my faith too? I believe in him. You might be like the guy that had the son that the disciples couldn't heal, and then Jesus does. When the man says he says, do you believe? He says, I believe, but help me with my unbelief.

He recognizes that there's a lack of faith there. I mentioned this during Steve's funeral a week and a half ago. The word for faith is the same word for faithfulness. Subjectively, it is the belief that I have. Whatever capacity that I have for belief.

Some people are more skeptical than others, but everybody has a measure of belief. You couldn't drive if you didn't. You believe in traffic laws at least. Right? Somewhat.

Your subjective belief placed in the objective faithfulness of God is saving faith. And so this points to that. Leon Morris actually says it better than I have and a quicker quip too, so I'm gonna use that. On faith, he says, it's not so much great faith is necessary. I need more than I have.

It's not so much that great faith in God is required as it is faith in a great God. Does that make sense? That is so good. That helps me is to know that God is great and what he wants to accomplish, he will accomplish. If you have faith in him, then trust in him.

When he directs you to command whatever it is that you have to command, he will bring it to completion. It requires staying close to him, not going for false teaching, being forgiving. We're supposed to pray just as I am forgiving those trespasses. Will you forgive me mine? So forgiveness, avoiding false teaching, and faith are all tied together.

It's not so much great faith in God that is required as faith in a great God. And then the last section is a little longer than the rest. It's three verses. And it says, now which of you, having a slave, plowing, tending sheep, will say to him after he comes in from the field, come on in immediately and recline at the table to eat. You've done your work outside.

And this is a slave or servant, first century. I think sometimes when we hear the word slave, we immediately go back to the South pre 1861. But think about this as a servant of, in this time, first century. Now which of you having a slave plowing and attending sheep will say to him after he comes in from the field, come immediately, recline the table, eat, that I'll make it for you? On the contrary, will he not say to him, now prepare something for me to eat and clothe yourself, properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink and afterwards, after that, then you may eat and drink.

He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? No. It's an instant expectation. If you maybe bring it forward. If you're an employee and you have an employer and you've signed on for your work, right?

You've signed on for the day's work. Whatever comes at you, you're going to handle because it's your job. A pat on the back from the boss. Maybe it's nice but it's not required. You're getting paid.

Right? It is part of what you do. He doesn't thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded him, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which were commanded you and actually, this I think is important. It's on service.

It's on what Romans might call our reasonable service. Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. While we're here, our reasonable service is just to do as God directs. Now, he's given us a lot of direction and love one another. That's easy to understand and hard to do.

But he also directs us individually. He has steps, Ephesians says, that he wants for us to walk in. And he has wired us to be able to do certain things. He's given us direction to do them. He's empowered us by the same spirit that has raised Jesus from the dead.

We should be walking in those steps. Does that make sense to you? So you too, when you do all the things which were commanded you wait just a second. That right there. All the things which were commanded you.

I mentioned it once in the prayer this morning, I think. I mentioned it in the first service too. That's the same verbiage as the Great Commission. When you get to the Great Commission, the go ye therefore, baptizing and teaching all the nations, it it doesn't say just baptizing and teaching all the nations. It says teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you.

Woah. How do you do that? Well, you're obedient. You do what God has commanded. So you too, when you do all the things which were commanded of you, you should still be saying, we're really actually unworthy slaves.

We've done only that which we ought to have done. It's our reasonable services. God directs us to do. For Thomas, it was walking to India and sharing the gospel with everyone along the Silk Road on the way there. And you might think, Man, walking to India?

That's crazy. Good on Thomas. Right? Well, from a human perspective, do too. But that was just a reasonable service for Thomas.

We all are individually gifted and individually have our own sphere of influence. There are some of us who have more financial resources and are able to do that, that some of the rest of us are not. There are some of us that have a greater facility with languages and can cross culture easier than others. That's just your reasonable service to be doing that. There are some of us that have gifts of mercy that see hurting people and can lift them up.

The Spirit does that. But it still doesn't remove you from just doing what it is that you ought to do. Though it be different from your neighbor. So on service is that last portion. So I'm going to try and bring these all together.

So on false teaching, forgiveness, faith, service, I think that I tried to thread it a bit together throughout. But I want to try it with just one word, discipleship. It's not easy to be a disciple of Christ. You have to reject that which is not of Christ. That says that we should guard ourselves against false teaching.

There are some things that sound wonderful. There's a way that seems right to man, but in the end, it's the path of destruction. Guard ourselves against false teaching. And as a disciple, we should be practicing loving and caring rebuke. Warning, admonition, concern.

And what even may seem like reckless forgiveness, we should continually be in a mode of forgiving. And I can hear the resistance sometimes where people say, if you keep on forgiving them, they're gonna keep on doing it. There are things that disqualify us from leadership, from ministry, from marriage. There are things that can and there are consequences. But forgiveness should still be there and available.

Even if reconciliation between peoples is not possible. Sometimes there are sharp disagreements. Start exercising faith in your great God. Rather than asking for an increase of faith. It's just that you would be able to live out that which you do believe and understand.

And consider your acts of service absolutely reasonable with no expectation of earthly attaboys. Now, I might add to that that if I'm in a position where I see somebody do something that's wonderful, I should probably say, hey, that was great. I want to encourage you. Encourage one another, build each other up. I wanna encourage you that I saw that, and it's just great.

That was just like Jesus. That's exactly what Jesus would have done. Good job. But we shouldn't immediately just have a list and go, well, I did this, this, this, and this, and this, that for God, and he just didn't do anything for me. I ended up just down the hole.

Yes, Jeremiah. I know. It is bad, and it's probably gonna get worse. But you need to remain faithful to me. I knew who you were.

I knit you together in your mother's womb. I still womb. I know who you are. Trust me. That's what God is saying.

I think that's all I've got from the scripture this morning. But that leads us to a place of communion. So the Lord's Supper. Discipleship was what the whole four pieces of that sermon were about. And I think that as his disciples were gathered and they're gathered together and he starts to do this meal or starts to do this after the meal.

He starts to do this Lord's Supper communion thing. All of those things are present. He's being betrayed. Judas has believed something that's not true. Right?

And been drawn away. The forgiveness is available. He knows Peter's going to deny him and he says that Satan wanted to sift you like wheat. I haven't said, no, you need some sifting. Right?

But when you've been restored, strengthen your brothers. They're all present. In discipleship, all these things are present. Right here, these elements represent the body of Christ that is given for us. It's a perfect example.

It's a perfect record so we can follow after his example. And the perfect record is what God recognizes when we say, I trust Jesus. He replaces our imperfect with the perfect of Jesus. The sacrificial blood that was shed voluntarily on our behalf is the second of the elements. Just a little plastic cup full of grape juice and a cracker, but they're representative of the body and blood of Christ.

Would you pray with me? I'm gonna ask the ushers to come forward and distribute these. Lord God Almighty, we pray before this text, I know we feel like the disciples and say, Lord, help us. Help us to just be able to carry out what it is we believe. Lord, would you show us your will and show us your way with people?

Would you give us a forgiving spirit? God, I pray that you'd bless the cracker that we're about to distribute, this bread, a representative of the bread that you broke with your disciples, Lord. Would you bless each one that partakes? And it is an open table. Anyone who's ever put their faith in Christ is welcome.

Lord God Almighty, I pray that you would bless those who partake. And if there's anyone here who's just come along with someone else that does not believe and needs to let this cup pass, I pray, Lord, that you would reach out to them through this body, that you would draw them into a close and meaningful relationship with you. In Jesus' name, we ask for your blessing on this representation of your body. Amen. On the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he had his disciples all together in one place.

And after supper, he after he'd given thanks, he blessed this bread and he said, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat of it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, we're thankful that you were submitted to the spirit and walked it out perfectly from from your mother's womb all the way through the crucifixion. We thank you for that acceptable death that was given, Lord, on our behalf. I pray, Lord, through your voluntary sacrifice of your blood that we would gain strength by your spirit to follow after your example.

Lord, thank you for that innocent blood that was shed. And we now are going to distribute a little plastic cup full of grape juice as a representation to remind us to take in what was done for us and to walk it out. In Jesus' name, thank you. Lord, amen. We are we are going to get more grape juice.

Okay? But I have time for this. Last service, I did the same sermon. I thought the exact same way and it was like fourteen and a half minutes shorter in this service. You're welcome.

I don't know how that happened. But I've got a song that I think I wanna sing, and I think it's appropriate to sing right now. So especially as that last little portion of scripture talked about doing a reasonable service, and I'm gonna sing a acapella, Judy. I don't I don't have music for it. It's called Let the Blood of Calvary Speak for Me.

I haven't heard it in years.

When the harvest has been gathered, All my work on earth is done when the last mile's been traveled. And I've sung my final song. If I'm called to give an answer at heaven's judgment seat, then let the blood of Calvary speak for me. May it write me down as righteous where no righteousness has been. Shielding me from wrath and judgment as it covers all my sins.

There's no work that I've accomplished, nor my goodness would I plead. Just let the blood of Calvary speak for me. There may be some friends who'd witness and speak a word so kind, but their voices would seem so feeble. At such an awesome time, but there's a voice that calls for mercy ringing through eternity. Just let the blood of Calvary speak for me.

May it write me down as righteous, where no righteousness has been. Shielding me from wrath and judgment, as it covers all my sins. There's no work that I've accomplished nor my goodness I would plead. Just let the blood of Calvary, the precious blood of Calvary, let it speak for me. Amen.

And just like he did the bread, it says, that he said to his disciples there with him. And his voice rings out to the disciples sitting here today. He says to them and he says to us, this is the new covenant in my blood. Oh, that old covenant, a covenant of works. Jesus' sacrificial death allows for us the access to God's grace.

This is the new covenant in my blood, he said. Take this and drink of it and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. Would you stand with me? And I think we'll close with the doxology, Judy.

Is that fine? You give us a g chord.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures here below praise him above ye heavenly host Praise father, son, and holy ghost.

Amen. And the benediction today is from John 13, upper room discourse, same time when he did the first Lord's Supper. A new command I give to you that you would be loving one another just as I have loved you, very high standards, so you must be loving one another. By this, everyone will know that you are truly my disciples if you love one another. In Jesus' name, Lord, give us the power, the strength, and ability to do so.

Amen.