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welcome to free grace Baptist Church of your visiting special and warm welcome to you and just by way of announcements there's a luncheon after the service this morning so if your weren't aware of it or you forgot about it and you're wondering can you stay absolutely you could stay and there's always enough food people bring extra so feel free to just stay behind and it's just upstairs in the luncheon in the lunchroom the fellowship room after the service in regards to announcements also Jordana who I don't see this morning I think the events are not here but Jordana van ort has asked for a baptism and membership so that will be in a few weeks a few weeks time and according to our Constitution we need to announce that so just FYI it's a wonderful thing when one of our young people want to be baptized and follow the Lord in obedience to to baptism and the last announcement is the fact that on the 29th of this month the last day of the month on Saturday evening is our Annual General Meeting and it's at 7 o'clock in the evening so AGM February 29th at 7 o'clock well with the announcements out of the way let's turn to our Bibles and begin worship this morning as we prepare our hearts for worship by reading a psalm psalm 115 someone 15 it will read the whole chapter not unto us O Lord not unto us but to your name give glory because of your mercy because of your truth why should the Gentiles say so where is their God but our God is in heaven he does whatever he pleases their idols are silver and gold the work of men's hands they have mouths but they do not speak eyes they have but they do not see they have ears but they do not hear noses they have but they do not smell they have hands but they do not handle feet they have but they do not walk nor do they mutter through their throat those who make them are like them so is everyone who trusts in them o Israel trust in the Lord he is their help and there filled a house of Aaron trust in the Lord he is their help and their shield you who fear the Lord trust in the Lord he is their help and their shield the Lord has been molten has been mindful of us he will bless us he will bless the house of Israel he will bless the house of Aaron he will bless those who fear the Lord both small and great may the lord give you increase more and more you and your children may you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth the heaven even the heavens are the Lord's but the earth he has given to the children of men the dead do not praise the Lord nor any who go down into silence but we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore praise the Lord Amen will please turn with me in your hymn books to him number 224 2 to 4 and I'll ask you to please stand [Music] immortal invisible God only wise invited accessible hit from all right most blessed [Music] [Music] let's go to God in prayer and ask his blessing to be upon our worship time this morning let's pray our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we come before you father as your children as needy ones this day to bring praises and adoration before the before the great God the God of heaven and earth we praise you Lord that we come before an audience of one this morning as we consider worship this day father we do not come here for it's and to meet our own needs we come here simply to gather together as the church here on this earth to bring our praises to bring our adoration before a great God how we praise you Father that you have sent your one and only Son the Lord Jesus Christ to save us - - - to give to us hearts of Breed after you after you and after your word and father we do praise you for the fact that you have given to us your word we praise you that you have instructed our minds within the word of God we thank you've given to the church pastors elders teachers to instruct us in these things as well we praise you for your Holy Spirit father we thank you that for the gift of the Holy Spirit that brings to our remembrance all things pertaining to Christ and makes us intelligent makes us wise in the scriptures we we pray Lord your blessing upon all these things this day that we would be true and an intelligent worshipers of the of the triune God here this day we thank you Father Son and Holy Spirit that we can that we can gather together as the church as that as a church here on on Wellington at free Grace Baptist Church as a local extension of that church Universal to bring praises and adoration and glory to you father how we praise you that to you you are not a God who is a far awful though you are a God who is holy holy holy but you're also a God whose very near and how we praise you like that you know the the each and every heart each nevermind that gathers here this day and how we praise you father that you have that you will meet each one of us that you through your son the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated evidence that that you do care for the needy you care for each individual heart and soul he gather together this day and so Lord as we gather as worshipers as a as a unified body give to us that unity give to us that that that one voice is at work to behold our great God to be worshippers of that great God thank you Lord that you have adopted us as your sons and your daughters we praise You Father that you have removed those stony cold sinful hearts and given to us fleshly hearts that breathe after you Lord we do confess that even though we we are saved we we have been saved by that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ yet father we are not without sin we still remain with that with that temptation and father we do pray that you would be pleased to forgive us afresh even this day by the precious blood of your son the Lord Jesus Christ Lord how grateful we are for that blood for that fountain that is open for uncleanness for that fountain that is open for for all who would confess their sins and we know Lord you to be a forgiving God a God who has promised to forgive us it's forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so Lord we pray that you would be pleased to cleanse us afresh this day as we come into your presence as we worship you here in this place this day father we know that not all are with us this day due to sickness due to illness some who are here perhaps are dealing with different issues we know Lord that you know each and every heart you know hearts and needs that that are at that that are represented here in this congregation father we do pray that you would minister to each and every one in your own in your own way we pray that you would meet them in their needs and cause them Lord to to know that strength that help that aid that has given to them from on high the pray law that that those in their sick beds might know that that touch of God is at work upon their lives and they would be that they would be returned to health and to strength we do pray Lord that you would bless those who come perhaps this day with heavy hearts with with deep concerns upon their heart we pray a little you touch those hearts as well and cause them to to not fret not worry but to leave those those concerns with you into to to cast every every worry upon upon you father knowing that you know all things and you were able to you were able to satisfy to it to its completeness and Lord we do pray to that end lord help us in our worship we do pray to to lay hold of you and that we might lay aside everything that would distract us everything that would that would be untoward our worship this day that we might be focused upon that the triune God that we come to have business with this day blessed year word father's has opened up here in this place as well we pray that you would strengthen us by that word sanctify us Lord by the precious Word of God and we prayed you'd bless our pastor strengthen him give to him all that he stands in need of we we don't presume father that we just come together and we we will hear from you we do desire that the Spirit of the Living God would come down upon him and upon the teaching that we would have an and upon us as a congregation that we receive that word and it might be like the Bereans we receive it gladly and that we would be certain of the things that that that are imparted to us that they would be words of truth and words of eternal life Lord we pray that your blessing might be upon all these things we think not just of ourselves but other churches here in Chilliwack we think of the church in Vernon we think of the church in Surrey as well and might for Patrick their Lord we pray your blessing upon these churches as well that again that what we pray for ourselves we pray for them that they would enjoy a spirit of unity this day a unity that that would be found in in in right doctrine and in the truth of your word and we do pray Lord that you would cause your word to go out from those pulpits this day and to be for edification that even salvation we pray for any and all in our own congregation here who perhaps are without Christ we pray Lord that you would just cause cause those scales the pall fall off their eyes of the word they might see the true and living Christ that they might see that the Lord Jesus Christ is a ready Savior for ready sinners we thank you Father we praise you for this desire that Jordana has to to to enter into the waters of Baptism and and demonstrate to her out her obedience to the things of Christ we thank you for that good work that you've done in her heart and we do pray lo that these things would be enriched to her and that she would that she would know what she would that she would know some some help and aid in her own life as she says she takes this step of obedience and lord you'd be pleased to bless her and and to sanctify her and and cause these things to be for her good for eternal for her eternal good we do pray Lord we do ask your blessing to be upon tho who are in this world who are persecuted we think father of many around this world we think of those who who experience persecution even in this week father and and their churches perhaps have been shut down pastors in prison where the the the strong arm of the law of the government set that hate you religions that hate you Father are seeking to get at you but because they cannot get at you they get at your people so Lord how we pray that you would just be pleased to strengthen each and every one cause m'lord to know hope and help and and strengthen the inner man and we pray that you would be pleased to cause your word to continue all over this earth it might run swiftly and the Lord you'd be pleased to cause many to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ Lord we just praise you and thank you that this is our privilege here today to take these couple of hours to to spend and worship with you we think that we can and we can enjoy this whole Lord's day come back this evening and enjoy worship of you as well again we pray Lord that you would be pleased to strengthen us by this day and we pray that you truly be worship and it's in Jesus precious name we pray amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to a hymn number 23 be 20 [Music] Amen you may be seated and please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 17 Acts chapter 17 Acts chapter 17 will begin at verse 1 it will read to the verse 15 so Acts chapter 17 beginning verse 1 now when they had passed through antha Amphipolis and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the Jews then Paul as his custom was went into them and for three Sabbath's reasoned with them from the Scriptures explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying this Jesus whom I preached to you is the Christ and some of them were persuaded and a great multitude of the développé Greeks and not a few of the leading women joined Paul and Silas but the Jews who were not persuaded became envious took some of the evil men from the marketplace and gathered a mob set all the city in uproar and attacked the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people but when they did not find them they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city crying out these who have turned the world upside down have come here - Jason has harbored them and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying there is another King Jesus and they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things so when they had taken security from Jason and the rest they let them go then the Brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea when they arrived they went into the synagogue of the Jews these were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness and searched the Scriptures daily to find out were these things whether these things were so therefore many of them believed and also not a few of the Greeks prominent women as well as men but when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the Word of God was preached by Paul at Berea they came there also and stirred up the crowds then immediately the Brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea but both Silas and Timothy remained there so those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens and receiving a command from Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed they departed amen well let's pray our gracious center loving Heavenly Father we again we praise you Father for the fact that we have demonstrated here in this chapter as we have in all the chapters in the book of Acts that that desire and the part of Paul and all the apostles to preach Christ and to preach Christ crucified and how we praise you Father that is still the same message in 2020 and it'll be the the same message until until you come to take your church into heaven with you and how we praise you Father for that glorious message it is a message that is that does save individuals and saves their eternal never dying souls and father even though it has been persecuted even though it has been it has been sought to be stopped down through the ages yet father you have continued to cause your church to to move forward to move to move on and we praise you the gates of Hell have not pervaded prevailed against it against the Church of Christ the church continues to march forward and we just give you our grateful thanks and our praise and adoration for that and how we pray a love that we as a congregation would be like these Bereans who sought the scriptures to make certain these things were true that we would not take for granted but rather that we would be people men and women boys and girls of the Word of God searching out the Scriptures and making them a part of our daily lives and so Lord we pray you'd bless us in these desires we know that Lord you are you are pleased when when men read the scriptures when when men and women boys and girls families that come together and search the scriptures that so Lord we look to you for your blessing upon these things as we seek to do them for your honor for your glory and it's in Jesus precious name we pray amen okay if you turn of your hem books for the last hem and I'm just not sure if it's two hundred and fifty eight or 25 be it's two fifty three okay two fifty three ask you to please stand two hundred fifty three [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] [Music] please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 14 Acts chapter 14 we're continuing on the first missionary journey which is recorded in acts 13 and 14 of the Apostle Paul and Barnabas the date is about AD 47 and 48 and we see from a survey of these particular places visited they covered about 1,400 miles Cyprus the churches in southern Galatia which included the city and Antioch Iconium Lystra and Derby and then they go back to Antioch in Syria to report back to the church or focus this morning is verses 8 to 18 the ministry in Lystra the ministry in Lystra so I'll begin reading in acts 14 at verse 8 and in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting a from his mother's womb who had never walked this man heard Paul speaking Paul observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed said with a loud voice stand up straight on your feet and he leaped and walked now when the people saw what Paul had done they raised their voices saying in the like own Ian's language the gods have come down to us and the likeness of men and Barnabas they called Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker then the priest of Zeus whose temple was in front of their city brought oxen and Garland's to the gates intending to sacrifice with the multitudes but when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude crying out and saying men why are you doing these things we were also men with the same nature as you and preached to you that you should turn from these useless things to the Living God who made the heaven the earth the sea and all things that are in them who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways nevertheless he did not leave himself without witness and that he did good gave us rain from heaven and fruitful season filling our hearts with food and gladness and with these state sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there and having persuaded the multitudes they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city supposing him to be dead however when the disciples gathered around him he rose up and went into the city and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby and when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples they returned to Lystra Iconium and Antioch strengthening the souls of the disciples exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God so when they had appointed elders in every Church and prayed with fasting they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed and after they had passed through pasilla they came to Pamphylia now when they had preached the word in purga they went down to Atalaya from there they sailed to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed now when they had come and gathered the church together they reported all that God had done with them and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles so they stayed there a long time with the disciples amen well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for this book of Acts and the great things that it shows us concerning the church we see disciples made we see disciples come together in local churches we see the preaching of the gospel as the means that you use and God this encourages and strengthens our heart and we pray that we would see likewise in our own generation that as your word goes forth many many people would come out of darkness into marvelous light confessing faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that by your grace and for your glory we know that you have purposed to save a great multitude that no man can number from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and we pray that as your word goes forth today you would let the nation's be glad and in this place Lord God we pray that you would have dealings with those who are dead in their trespasses and sins we pray father that your Holy Spirit would make them alive and would show them the glory of Jesus Christ as the one in whom alone there is forgiveness and righteousness that avails with god almighty forgive us all for our sins we are called to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel than to our shame we confess it's not always the case we do thank you for justification by faith alone but we as well God confess our sins and ask that you would forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness we thank you for the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for the grace that you have exhibited to us in that gospel and in the salvation of our souls and Lord encourage and strengthen us now we pray in Jesus Holy Name Amen well as I said we're working our way through this first missionary journey and we are in Lystra and it's a very instructive portion of Scripture not only in terms of the preaching of the gospel but as well there's some theology proper or the doctrine of God or something that we should understand concerning God specifically that we'll look at as we move in the exposition but I want to look first at the miraculous healing of the lame man in verses 8 to 10 secondly the attempted worship of the Apostles in verses 11 to 13 and then finally the the glorious proclamation of the Living God in verses 14 to 18 where Paul sets forth to these people who the true and living God is but in the first place let's look at this healing we notice the description of the man in verse 8 he is in fact helpless he's in an incurable position he has a congenital disease he has never walked in fact Luke is very conspicuous and in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting a from his mother's womb who had never walked Alexander says congenital infirmities of this kind being commonly regarded as incurable the man's condition seemed to be a helpless one it certainly is he had never before walked and here we see him hearing the Apostle Paul and his preach a now this is very similar to Acts chapter 3 verses 1 to 10 when Peter healed there was the agency by which God healed a crippled man also in the life and Ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ in Chapter five Christ has the power directly to heal these crippled or lame men here we see that Paul and Barnabas is the or the agents it's God who saves it's God who heals and it's God who works in this particular lame man and then as we move to the healing notice that the man heard Paul according to verse seven they were preaching the gospel there so this man heard Paul preached the truth as it is in Jesus he heard Paul preach about the life of Jesus Christ and the obedience of Christ to his father he heard Paul preach concerning the death of Jesus why did Jesus die it wasn't because he was a criminal it wasn't because he was a violator of the law but rather he was our substitute he was our representative he went to the cross as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world so this lame man is hearing Paul preached these things but not only life and death of Jesus but the resurrection the reality that God raised up his son on the third day that no longer would he or would he never undergo corruption that he was exalted to the right hand of the Father and he ever lives to make intercession for his people so the man heard Paul speak a and then Paul observed him and notice what the text says in verse 9 it says Paul observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed now that's an interesting statement I don't know that it said you know faith on the top of the man's forehead most likely this was prompting by the Spirit of God so that Paul would in fact know that this was a man that God was going to deal graciously with but remember it's the gospel it's the word of salvation it's the preaching of the Cross that the man heard and as a blessed by product or corollary this man is receiving his health he's receiving strength in his legs that particular incident in the gospel records when those men sort of open up the roof and they they lower that paralytic down where Jesus is preaching and Jesus looks upon the man and he says son your sins are forgiven well all the people there are curious and perplexed and puzzled by this and and they are thinking to themselves who but God alone can forgive sin well Jesus knows precisely what they're thinking and so he asks them which is easier to say to the paralyzed man your sins are forgiven or take up your mat and walk well it's easier to say your sins are forgiven because we don't know if that's the case then Jesus goes on to tell the man to take up his mat and walk that furnished the proof or evidence that the greater miracle actually occurred that Christ forgave the man of his sins the fact that he got up and walked was certainly evidence of that bless of reality that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sin we often look at the healing the physical healing as far outshining the spiritual healing brethren it's better to go to heaven as a lame man than to go to hell as a whole man it is better to enter into the kingdom of God hobbly and limping and crawling than running into the kingdom of Satan with everything intact the greater miracle is not that this man walked but that he ultimately walked into Heaven's Gate that he was forgiven of sin based on the reality that Christ lived Christ died Christ was raised the third day and that beautiful summary statement of Paul's in Romans four he was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification that's what this man experienced on that day the fact that he gets up the fact that he walks is a blessed corollary but the the sum and substance of Paul's dealing with him is that he's forgiven of his sins Paul saw him he saw that he had faith to heal a faith to be healed Paul then spoke to him and then notice in verse 10 he said with a loud voice stand up straight on your feet and illipe and wot now I thought about this this is an amazing thing for a whole host of reasons not least of which when we start to learn how to walk we don't immediately leap up and walk he had been given this strength by God through the agency of the Apostle Paul and now he is walking and keeping and praising God Almighty Bruce says that this lame man had faith was made planed by his ready obedience to Paul's command to stand up he jumped to his feet found that they supported his weight and began to walk for the first time in his life it's a beautiful description it's a glorious thing and we see the power of God not the power of Paul but rather the power of God to heal people from their infirmities and even more the spiritual infirmities that we are all sick with we're all affected by we may be healthy we may be strong we may be vital in our physicality but spiritually if we are not in Christ we are dead in our trespasses and sins and the only way it will rise up the only way will leap up the only way we'll walk spiritually is if God the Lord pronounces that blessing upon us that we live by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ now notice the response in Lystra to this miracle we see the attempted worship of the Apostles in verses 11 to 13 notice they ascribe deity to Paul and Barnabas as far as they're concerned that gods have come down in human likeness and this isn't the only place where this ever occurred in pagan history the commentators speak concerning this particular incident that it's one amount among many the pagan concept was that at times gods would come down in human likeness and as a result these persons put their money where their mouths are notice their response verse 11 now when the people saw what Paul had done they raised their voices saying in the laconian language that's an important piece of information because it seems it took a moment or at least a bit of time for Paul and Barnabas to try and tell them not to worship it's probably because they didn't understand the like Oni and language they didn't understand what they were saying they didn't realize that they were ascribing deity to them until the Garland's and the oxen were brought out in order to worship and sacrifice then they're all too aware of it and they repudiate the very suggestion that would be worship worship that is for the true and living God alone so in this instance they ascribe deity to these particular men and then notice the identification verse 12 Barnabas they called Zeus that's the Greek version the Roman version would be Jupiter think the old King James has the the Roman version and then Hermes would be mercury and as far as zeus is concerned or jupiter he was the king of the Greek gods and then Hermes or mercury was the messenger of the gods you could see why they would ascribe to Paul being Hermes or the messenger because he's the speaker now we don't know why they would have addressed Barnabas as Jupiter or Zeus some suggest that it was because he was older or perhaps a bit more handsome we don't know why the reason is but with reference to Paul we get it they thought he was the messenger of the gods and they ascribed that deity to them and then notice and I think this is instructive we can learn something this morning from pagans as I said they put their money where their mouth is they believed the gods had come down in human likeness and as a result they immediately mobilized in order to sacrifice as a result they immediately engage in adoration and in praise and in worship we have the second person of the true and living God who has come down not only in the likeness of man but assuming our humanity with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof and yet without sin and yet sacrifice worship praise adoration are we as quick to engage in it as these pagans are when they think Jupiter and Mercury are upon them we learn something here there is a consistent conduct that goes with our profession of faith if we profess faith in the true and living God it ought to be reflected not only in our individual lives each and every day visa vie let our conduct be worthy of the gospel but in our worship of the true and living God when we sing when we praise when we adore when we sacrifice if we are misers if we are cheats if we are those that have no regard whatsoever for the grace and mercy of God not that we're paying for it not that we're trying to buy it not that we're bartering for it but as a response of gratitude for what God in Christ has done to us we're no better than these are actually we're a lot worse than these pagans these pagans are operating consistently with their understanding that that Zeus and and Hermes had come down in the likeness of men and they respond in kind by engaging in worship to them and notice specifically what we see verse 13 then the priest of Zeus whose temple was in front of their city brought oxen and Garland's to the gates intending to sacrifice with the multitudes so we see the pagans in Lystra believed that Paul and Barnabas were divine that they had deity or they were deity and as a result they engage in adoration worship and in sacrifice and that brings us thirdly to the glorious proclamation of the Living God how does Paul and Barnabas respond in the first place they reject it they reject this worship the way that Peter does in fact go back for just a moment to Acts chapter 10 Acts chapter 10 whenever a creature tries to worship another creature and that creature who is the target of the alleged worship is conscious of life and reality and who God is they reject it and if you notice specifically in acts 10 at verses 25 and 26 as Peter was coming in Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him but Peter lifted him up saying stand up I myself am also a man you see that in the book of Revelation in chapter 19 john wants to bow to the angel and the angel says don't do that i'm i'm creature i am not the object of worship i am not the one that is worthy of worship and we see that consistency in the new testament passages we see however in the gospel narratives when persons come to risk to worship jesus he doesn't rebuff that he doesn't stop them he doesn't reject them when Thomas makes that lofty confession of faith and John 20:28 my lord and my god Jesus doesn't say oh no you don't know what you're talking about don't say such things no he receives that when persons bow down to Jesus he receives that it would be wrong for Jesus to reject it because he is a worthy object of adoration and praise and worship and so we see the difference the creature refuses but rather God receives the worship that is due to his name now notice what the Apostles do they tear their clothes they understand what's happening this is repulsive to them and this is a response consistent with persons who see something that they conclude is blasphemy remember Jesus before the high priest the high priest thought that Jesus was engaged in blasphemy so he tears his garments well Paul and Barnabas do the same thing that's consistent that is a repudiation of this act of worship on the part of these list rents so when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude crying out and saying man why are you doing these things that's a good question why are you doing these things and I want us to understand something here both in acts 14 and then in acts 17 if our brother Steve would have continued to read God willing we'll not all die in a horrible car crash this week and we'll gather together to sing another day next Lord's Day and read another day where we're going to read Paul at Athens Paul at Athens and Paul in Lystra is addressing pagans he is addressing non Jews non Gentile god-fearers his preaching isn't different in the sense it's another genus but as preaching is different in the sense that he informs these pagans concerning things true of the Living God where when he went to the synagogues and there were Jews when he went to the synagogue's and there were Gentile god-fearers in those synagogues the persons in those synagogues knew that the God of Israel had created the heavens he had created the earth he had created the seas he was the universal sovereign over all men well in Lystra they didn't understand this they thought that that Jupiter and Mercury had come down now in the likeness of men Jupiter was the king of the Greek gods there were a multiplicity of these gods so Paul and Barnabas take pains to show these people not only that they're wrong but to call them to repentance so that they may come to the true and living God and have everlasting life think FF Bruce summarizes it well he says the summary which Luke proceeds to give of their expostulation big words kid for kids for preaching probably means expostulation means their preaching provides us with one of the two examples and acts of the preaching of the gospel to purely pagan audiences to people who unlike the Gentiles who attended synagogue worship had no acquaintance with the God of Israel or with the Hebrew prophets the author and fuller example is the speech delivered by Paul to the Athenian Court of the areopagus so Paul in Athens stands up before those epicurean and stoic philosophers and he preaches God to them and so it's not out of the ordinary when he's dealing with these pagans to highlight and emphasize things that Jews and Gentiles would have already assumed the reality that God created the reality that God is sovereign in the government of the affairs of men and yet when we come to Lystra and we come to Athens Paul makes those things clear so that pagans understand the gods that they subscribe to are bankrupt the gods that they hold to are fake the gods that they say they worship aren't real there's one true and living God and Paul is going to preach him to these people now notice in terms of the proclamation of the truth I want to spend the rest of our time here and I want to look at first of all the non divinity of the Apostles the non divinity of the apostles notice what he says to distinguish him Paul Barnabas from God he says we also are men with the same nature as you we also are men of the same nature as you now this word in the famous dictionary concerning Greek language means pertaining to experiencing similarity in feelings or circumstances that's a good definition others gloss it this way Barrett says same experiences and the same feelings the best definition of the word that Paul uses is in the old King James Bible we are men of like passions we are the same as you we are not deity we are not divine because if we were that would just conflate and bring chaos if deity looks like us then that's a bad thing so he is distinguishing the true and living God from the creature that God made and the way that he does that is by highlighting that we Paul Barnabas you people of Lystra were men of light passions we have the same nature were frail we are sinful we are are prone to do those things which are vile and offensive in fact listen to John Gill he says man not gods of the same human nature and that as created alike sinful men and and need a sacrifice better than those not only do we not want you to sacrifice that to us but we all need a sacrifice far more excellent than oxen and we have it in the Christian gospel he goes on to say frail mortal men subject to frailty imperfection afflictions troubles diseases and death itself and so very improper objects of worship in other words what we worship must be worthy of worship and their attempt to worship Paul and Barnabas was a betrayal of that fundamental point this is the problem with all idolatry when you worship sex or when you worship drugs or when you worship rock-and-roller when you worship job security or when you worship educational sort of institutions or when you worship political party you are corrupt in your thinking they are not worthy of worship they are not worthy of adoration they are not worthy of praise but God alone is the only other place this particular word is used in the New Testament is at James 5:17 to highlight that Elijah was a man of like passions he was a man with a nature like ours now as we move through this sermon I want to spend a moment on this statement that we are men of white passions if in the first place it indicates that Paul and Barnabas are not God it indicates secondly that God now brace yourselves is not like us okay we need to develop that because it's too too rampant where we see God as like us we are created in the image of God and ever since we have been trying to cast him into our image he is not of like passions in the Westminster Confession of faith in chapter 2 paragraph 1 when it says that God is without passions a proof text is found here in acts 14 15 our second London confession of 1677 / 1689 has the same phrase without passions why it doesn't include acts 14 15 is not it's not at my paygrade historical theologians could get into that better than I can but the doctrine of what we call divine impassibility is supported by this passage now I want to lead everybody slowly through this because I think it's very important because if we deny this about God then we're trying to make God like us and if we try to make God like us we will always end in ruin that is never a good procedure so that God is not like us is signified by this doctrine of impossibility now before we actually define the word impossibility what our passions going to actually don't do it today do it tomorrow take a hammer put your thumb on the table and hit it the result is a passion okay or if you're me drive home after service today and have somebody go 40 in a 50 what response comes from me is a passion okay passion is any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling as love or hate another definition is the state of being acted upon or affected by something external especially something alien to one's nature or one's customary behavior so the argument is simply this God is without passions because passions implies a movement it implies a change I go from the place of no pain I hit my thumb with a hammer I go to the place of painting and the consistent response to that pain the problem was saying God has passions or affections or emotions does disservice to what we call the unchangeableness of God God doesn't change the scriptures are clear we all affirm the doctrine of divine immutability that means God doesn't change we need to equally affirm the doctrine of divine impossibility because the reality is is that if God doesn't or cannot change he doesn't change he doesn't move from one state to another that is something consistent with creature but not with creator God is supreme God is infinite eternal and unchangeable in his being wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth there is no variation there is no shadow of turning there is no movement from one state to another with reference to God so in terms of divine impassibility the word means or impossibility means God does not perience inner emotional changes whether enacted freely from within or affected by his relationship to and interaction with human beings and the created order other words he doesn't move from one state to another and I'm going to show how wonderfully practical and how gloriously encouraging this doctrine is some have understood it as to regard God as static inert non feeling if I can use that language listen to our confession again in Chapter two paragraph 1 it says that God is most holy most wise most free most absolute most loving gracious merciful long-suffering the most is there because of the doctrine of divine impassibility see the confession rightly interprets God from Scripture he doesn't move from one state to another now you say well the Bible is filled with language of God repenting our God relented I know that languages in there and it's an accommodate accommodation to us as creatures the Bible tells us God is spirit but the Bible says the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth what we understand that to be an anthropomorphism when we say there's something human about God it's to help us to understand the scripture talks about the mighty right arm of God what does the spirit-being have a mighty right arm we'll know but it tells us something concerning his power when the Bible tells us that God repented our God relented it's an anthropology it's taking something true of humans and using the analogy and saying something of God it's not that the analogy is false but we need to understand that if we pause it or we suggest there is actual change in God then we're going to have big problems with many other passages of scripture that tell us there is no change so the doctrine of divine impossibility does not teach that God is static inert or unrelated to his creature the doctrine of divine impossibility highlights the dis tension between God as creator and man s creature was Paula Martin is saying we're men of light passions God isn't there's a distinction between the Creator and the creature Paul will say as much in just a moment to these pagans to tell them that God is creator but it's very common in Christianity it's very common among us to think that God is just a better version of man that we have worm and then we have cat and then we have dog and then we have human and then we have angel and then we have God it's to see God as man writ large but that's not what scripture says God is in another category God isn't another genus God is in another classification altogether God's not like us yes we've been made in His image but that doesn't mean that everything true of us is true of God and we need to understand that listen to herman boffin he says God is the real true being the fullness of being the sum total of all reality and perfection the totality of being from which all other being owes its existence he is an immeasurable an unbounded ocean of being the absolute being who alone has being in himself you can't say that about us there is a grave distinction between creature what everything not God is and God God is unique and that's what Paul is telling these people in Lystra were men of like passions the true of living and living God isn't a God of like passions in fact he is impassible he is immutable not because he's static not because he's inert not because he's unrelated to his creature but because he is as good as he can be he's most loving Christian do you understand what that means that means that when you sin against him he doesn't turn his back on you it means that when you mess up as you surely will this week the doctrine of justification by faith alone doesn't change God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus he can't grow in his love because that would indicate that he wasn't as loving as he could have been he can't decrease in his love because if he is perfection a decrease would take perfection away from him in fact listen to Stephen Charnock at this point he says if God does change if he does let's grant the supposition if God does change it must be either to a greater perfection than he had before or to a less if he's a perfect being any changes he's either getting better at something or he's getting worse at something I think this is easy to follow if you give me a little nod on though you're all with me because sometimes people say well you can't talk about divine impassibility in a sermon I mean those rubes won't understand brethren the love the Lord makes why is this simple it's a beautiful thing we ought not to be afraid of theology we ought not to be afraid of theological words we ought to do our best in the spirit of the psalmist who said greater the works of Yahweh they're studied by all who delight in them what better object is is there than God why wouldn't we take the moment to wrap our heads around a concept that distinguishes God from us and promotes in us humility which we desperately need and promotes in us an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness I will to my dying day reject the idea that the people of God they don't need those highfalutin concepts oh yes we do if we do not understand God as the Bible sets them forth tomorrow's gonna be miserable for you if God is filled with passions and God can change how is that on Thursday when you've done something horrible and you need to go back to God and confess your sins you want first John 1:9 to be true if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness listen to John's language he doesn't he's loving though he is but he's faithful and just he's faithful to his own self in terms of his promise of forgiveness to returning sinners and he's also just he is the justifier and the one who uh the one who justifies and the justifier I missed the language here Romans chapter 3 him shout it out just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus if he's not feeling up to it on Thursday he's had a bad Wednesday do you see what happens when we predicate that means say something about God that's true of us do you want that God do you want the God who hits a stun with a hammer and then flips out do you want the God who can't drive home without losing it to some small degree because people drive too slow do you want a God riddled with passions or do you want most loving it's divine impossibility that secures for us the reality that he's most loving divine impossibility necessarily follows from divine immutability you know we went through this debate in an association some years ago and you know I you know when when the psalmist says it makes why is the simple I don't ever think oh boy David you elitist Pig I think praise God because I'm simple and I need the law of God to make me wise it just seems to me that if we posit a God who can't change then we must have a God who doesn't change we have a God who says I the Lord do not change and yet we have a defective approach to impassibility where God moves from one state to another God is like a child God is like a creature God is like us no he's not and this is precisely Paul's point we are men of like passions the doctrine of divine impassibility necessarily follows from the doctrine of immutability consider numbers 23:19 God is not a man that he should lie nor a son of man that he should repent consider 1st Samuel 15 29 and also I love this description of God the strength of Israel will not lie nor relent for he is not a man that he should relent Malachi 3:6 for I am the Lord I do not change now notice the implication therefore you are not consumed those sons of Jacob if I changed and you did what you did you'd be done it'd be over we didn't validate this covenant completely we would eradicate it wholly but because God doesn't change therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed see that's a practical blessed implication of our doctrine of or our knowledge of who God is consider this statement in James 1:17 every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning again for those who would suggest well that means God's just a rock no God can't get better at being God and God can't get worse at being God thank you doctrine of divine impossibility listen to Thomas Manton on that statement in James 1:17 he says God doth not change there is no regal wrinkle upon the brow of eternity the arm of Mercy is not not dried up nor do his bowels of love whale of waste and spend themselves let me read that again but God does not change there is no wrinkle upon the brow of eternity the arm of Mercy is not dried up nor do his bowels of love waste and spend themselves he's not like us and you can praise him because he's not like us he's not creature he is creator now notice what Paul goes on to say Paul highlights the necessity of repentance at this point notice in verse 15 we also are men with like passions as you and preached to you that you should turn from these useless things to the Living God notice how Paul treats Zeus and Hermes imagine attacking the idols of our day as useless things well you can't say that that means everything to that person but it's a useless thing it's a vain thing it's an empty thing the worship of Zeus and Hermes call him Jupiter and Mercury whatever it is these are useless things so understand for the Apostle Paul he doesn't want to just inform them theologically and teach them the doctrine of impossibility which he is doing but he wants them to repent of their sin he wants them to forsake their wickedness he wants them to lay down the resistance and go to this God through the Lord Jesus Christ and find the mercy secured in the gospel so the apostle says turn from these useless things to the Living God and this description of living God comes often in the Old Testament especially when contrasting God with dead idols it's perfectly appropriate that the Apostle skilled an understanding of Old Testament language would use that description of the Living God in contrast to these worthless things see the things that are creature the things that have like passions are worthless things in the arena of worship but the God who is living the God who is impassible the God who is creator the God who is governor the God who has revealed that God is worthy to be worshiped and glorified and that's precisely where Paul turns his attention to now he deals with the works of God sometimes persons say well if God is impassable the way that you suggest how does he relate to his creation just like it says here it's not a obstacle as when andy says to try and be overcome the transcendent god is as well imminent the transcendent god is as well omnipresent the transcendent God does in fact interact with his creatures such that when we pray the Lord delights and the prayers of the upright the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much it's no obstacle in scripture that has to be overcome if we consider the godhood of God God Almighty relates to his creatures the way that Paul specifies in the passage before us notice one of the works of God he is the creator verse 15 again who made the heaven the earth the sea and all things that are in them again assumed in a Jewish synagogue because they had Genesis but with reference to pagans pagans typically have a multiplicity of gods for different situations you have in the Old Testament for instance you had bail bail was the storm God which meant got a bail brought rain and he brought fertilization to the ground he had Astra you had a Moloch you had a Dagon you had all these different gods in fact Israel bests the enemies of the Lord out in battle and they say well their God the enemy said well their God is the god of the valleys if I'm sorry the god of the hills if we take them out to the valley well then of course we'll best them guess what they learned they learned that our gods not only the god of the hills but they also learned that our God is the God of the valleys see pagan thought had a God for each area of life maybe not each area but you get my point these pagans needed to understand the God who is not like us is the God who made the world he is the God who created all things seen and unseen but he doesn't stop there he talks about God being sovereign over the nations notice in verse 16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways Matthew pull helpfully underscores that this counteracts the argument from antiquity and multiplicity let me just explain what I mean by that if they would have said but so many people in so many Ages and so many walks of life never followed this true or living God that was by God's design God selected the family of Abraham God selected Israel that was his covenant people in the Old Testament God preserved them God kept them together because it was from them that Messiah would come when Messiah comes this gospel is preached to all the nations this gospel goes out everywhere in acts 17 we refer to it or God rather Paul rather refers to it as these times of ignorance it's the same understanding here in verse 16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways so if you see a large portion in the history of the world marching hellbound Paul says it's because it was by design but praise God in this new covenant setting the gospel goes to Lystra the gospel goes to Iconium the gospel goes to the city and Antioch the gospel goes to Cyprus the gospel goes to Chilliwack the gospel goes to every tribe tongue people and nation again it was always purposed to do that in the Old Testament but in the Old Testament God pretty much focused upon the people of Israel so this was by design under God and that indicates that he is sovereign and his government of the nations he is sovereign he's overall it's not like you people in Lystra you're under Zeus and you're under Hermes or you people of Iconium yeah you have your sort of your own localized deities and and that's ok that's not what Paul st. Paul saying this God made everything this God governs everything but he says as well this God is not without witness there is a place in a function of what we call natural theology or natural revelation sometimes we refer to is general revelation God revealing himself in the created order and Paul points to that here in other words there is enough known about God through creation to leave all men without excuse on that day of judgment which indicates that men may say there's no God but according the Apostle Paul especially in Romans 1 19 and 20 which is very parallel to this particular section in acts 14 man does no man knows God exists because God made man that way he's hardwired you know when you go down to Best Buy or pretty much nowadays you order them online and you get a computer and you open it up there's an operating system there right it already has some stuff hardwired into it consider the creation of Adam and Eve there wasn't a stage of grunting and knuckle-dragging and standing upright God made Adam with the ability to communicate to hear commands to hear prohibitions he made Adam in his image and that means that Adam was able to look around him and be led unto God now at the introduction of sin when we have fallen in Adam we look around and we don't always conclude God but the problem isn't the revelation of God through the created order the problem is the receptor the problem is us but that natural theology or natural revelation functions fact the Belgic confession tells us there's two ways that God reveals himself we know God by two means first by creation preservation and government of the universe second he makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and Divine Word so in the space of just a couple of verses Paul is teaching more theology to the people in Lystra that some tea sometimes today persons in the church haven't exposed been exposed to I'm not saying cuz we're great I'm not saying that at all I'm thankful we have a confession of faith that highlights God's without body part and passions this is the fundamental grammar of theology proper that so many people have no clue whatsoever we know the love of God we know the mercy of God we know the justice of God and we should know that but equally we should know that he's with our body he's with our parts and he's with our passions that distinguishes God from us if you want God to be like you let me know I'll pray for you because you need to change God is not like us and that's what makes God glorious that's what makes him worthy of worship and praise and adoration we don't want a God who flexes or who changes and reacts or has a bad Wednesday so he's not there for our prayer on Thursday could you imagine being subject to a god like that a God whose capricious of God whose arbitrary a God is governed by his passions brethren when you see your child governed by passions you try hopefully under God to drive that out of the you tell them things like you're not supposed to flip out when you're disappointed you're not supposed to lose your mind you're supposed to discipline yourself and you're supposed to govern those passions so that you aren't even killed well our God is supra even-keeled and that brings great encouragement to people like us now notice finally there was a bit of misunderstanding still after saying well let's look at verse 17 nevertheless he did not leave himself without witness that means he revealed himself and how did he reveal himself and that he did good gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness had there never been fall into sin every bite we took every drink we drank every raindrop that fell on our head would lead us inevitably to a good God this good God is giving us these good gifts that's the way it should function but again the receptors messed up the heart and the mind are affected by sin and we received these things and then we say well it just you know it's cuz I'm a great guy or because of evolution or no we need to understand that God does this as a means by which he reveals himself to his creatures so he calls on them to repent but then notice what he says and what it says in verse 18 and with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them sad isn't it even when presented correct theology you must be born again you must have the spirit at work these men of Lystra heard the Apostle Paul these men of Lystra had him shining the spotlight upon this good and gracious God who's not like us and then the men of Lystra could scarcely be restrained from continuing to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas you see brethren it underscores what we saw in our study in acts 14 1 they so spoke that a great multitude believed it's not just the way they spoke but it was the attendant power of the Holy Spirit these men at Lystra needed that these men of Lystra had to have that or else they would continue to I can contemplate or think that these men were the gods Zeus and Hermes and worship them it's a terrible terrible thing but it unfortunately happens and it's probably the case that the preaching was stopped because of verse 19 Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there and having persuaded the multitude so it wasn't you know some say well he didn't even preach Jesus again he's portraying or giving us the Christian worldview to preach Jesus apart from the Old Testament is a very difficult proposition for Paul to be able to assume the Old Testament when he goes into synagogues where those categories are in place and there's the promise of a messiah for him to say Jesus is the Messiah when you're dealing with pagans it's not the case you have to tell them God made God governs and God is the one who redeems his people out of this mess well in conclusion I want to first of all say we ought to appreciate the power of God to heal the power of God to heal Paulding have this Barnabas didn't have this Peter didn't have this they didn't have sovereignty and the prerogative to just go willy-nilly to people and lay their hands on them and heal that was a man by the name of appt afroditi that was beloved by the Apostle Paul he was a servant of the church in Philippi and we read that he came nigh unto death well why didn't Paul just pray for hammer or slap a whammy on him so that he wouldn't have died brethren this is not man's prerogative healers and faith healers and men that men that propound to have the ability to lay their hands on others and heal them that's not scriptural and I think there's a lot of people under it operating under this false assumption now when I say that then people say well you don't think God can heal yeah that's what I say we get that you know it's like on the internet if I said I really like oranges the response is why do you hate apples how have we missed logic in this generation the point is is that God heals not Paul not Barnabas not Peter it's God and this crippled man who had never walked got up and walked that's the power of our good God secondly we ought to know something of the doctrine of man when Paul says we also are men with like passions as you remember John Gill sinful men frail mortal men subject to frailty imperfection afflictions troubles diseases and death itself and so very improper objects of worship we mean to understand what the Bible says about us because knowledge is a beautiful thing not only in terms of how do we relate to God but how do we write to others if we think we ought to be worshipped we're going to be terrible to be around if we think everybody should adore us then we're going to be terrible to be around if we think that we are a cut above or we're elites or were somehow better than all the fools that that we traffic with that is a terrible misunderstanding of what the Bible says concerning man when you bring it all down to the sum and substance we're all the same we're transgressors against a holy God we're in this mess together let's not be arrogant and foolish and judgmental and pharisaic to our fellows because we somehow think were a cut above No were frail were mortal we are men of light passions we all got our issues we all got our challenges we all got our struggles and dare I say it we all have our weaknesses it's a good thing to know that and to wrap your minds around it and to embrace it because hopefully it will keep us in our place instead of causing us or caught us ourselves causing us to be exalted and then thirdly with reference to the doctrine of God he is the Living God I don't know your hearts ultimately I don't know where you're at but I would ask you who is it that you worship are you worshiping the idols they may not be zeus and it may not be Hermes but there's a whole host of idols I mean there's a multitude not only you know corporate idols out there I don't mean the bales and the Astros and the Moloch's one of the biggest and most horrible Idol is us it really is in fact turned for just a moment to first Corinthians chapter 5 so whenever I say that people go I'm not an idol to myself oh really you're not interesting I'm sorry second Corinthians five your Idol may be corporate maybe a bale maybe an Astra maybe a false religion maybe Mammon doesn't Jesus condemn that doesn't Paul say the love of money is the root of all evil again a misunderstood passage not money money doesn't go out and rob banks money doesn't go out and rape people money doesn't cut people's heads off it's the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil it's just a reality Jesus says you cannot serve God and Mammon that's somehow a respectable Idol today well I'm just a hard worker I'm just trying to you know make my way in the world well CS Lewis says sometimes it's rather the UH the other way it's the world is making its way in your own heart we need to be on guard but that Idol of self is probably the last one to die notice in first Corinthians I'm sorry second Corinthians 5:12 for we do not commend ourselves again to you but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf that you may have an answer for those who boast an appearance and not in heart for if we are beside ourselves it is for God or if we are of sound mind it is for you for the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all then all died and he died for all now notice the purpose that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again it's hard for us to connect to that because even as God's people we find that temptation don't we it wasn't just narcissus who looked in the in the reflection in the water and saw how beautiful and gorgeous he was there's a little bit of narcissus and all of us people often say that about pastors and policemen well they have to be narcissists in order to pursue those particular professions hey cut me some slack I'll admit it I got some remaining narcissism but I think narcissists become construction workers I certainly think they become politicians lawyers they become a whole host of things not that narcissism is located only in police and pastors we all got a little bit in us and yet what is one of the designs of the gospel so that will stop living for ourselves that's a problem isn't it its problem as an individual when I only live for myself the problem when I'm in a family and I only live for myself the problem when I'm in a community and I only live for myself it's a problem when I'm in a church and I only live for myself when the needs of others the desires of others the wants of others are all secondary or tertiary or way down the ladder and scale we've got problems one of the designs behind the cross is so that we who live for ourselves no longer do so God alone is worthy of worship God alone is the Living God and if we have anything other that we are giving homage to repent forsake and come to this Living God we learn in this passage that God is impassable if not clearly articulated the way that other portions do it is a good proof text to indicate that reality were men of like passions the implication obviously God is not of like passions as well we learned that he is creator sovereign governor the revealer both general and special revelation and Savior and I say all this to end on this there is a persistence of pagan thought what I have attempted to explain is what's called classical theology it's what the church has always always believed from the apostolic era to the early church fathers to the medieval period to the Reformation and post-reformation this without body parts and paths and passions as I said has always been viewed as the fundamental grammar of the doctrine of God and yet today this doctrine especially divine impossibility has been obliterated it has been redefined it has been basically stripped from the church's consciousness with reference to who God is and that has paved the way for an idolatry similar to what we see here in Lystra if we are not worshiping the true and living God if we have redefined him if we have recast him if we have reshaped him to fit into our understanding then we are guilty as these Lister ins for wanting to offer up oxen and Garland's to a fake God brethren we need to think properly concerning who God is it's an amazing thing isn't it how much energy and time and effort Christians spent on a whole host of things and yet they don't study God they don't understand Trinity they don't understand the doctrine of Jesus Christ we have this supposition I just want to be holy I just want to get good practice I just want to have my virtues down I want to relate well to my people around me that ain't common unless you first know who God is and when you know who God is that facilitates the rest of the theological disciplines and prepares you for life before God in your relationships with others and if you're not a believer here this morning I realized Paul didn't say believe on the Lord Jesus Christ verse 7 tells us he was preaching the gospel there Luke is most likely giving us a summary he's giving us bits and pieces of sermons he's not giving us the whole thing so what is not here in acts 14 I will supply if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ if you are not a servant of the true and living God you are under his wrath in the way of escape is through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ in him alone for he is the savior for sinners well let us pray father thank you for your word and thank you for these passages of scripture in the book of Acts and for the way that the Apostles met pagan cultures they didn't compromise the doctrine of God that they preached who you are according to the scripture and lord I pray in our own day and age churches would do likewise I feel like it's so many points we're trying to accommodate Jesus to this culture to a God hating and rebellious culture that we end up with no Jesus at all help us to preach the truth and to trust in your sovereign power to save sinners according to your purpose and according to your plan we thank you for your graciousness and your mercy to us and we pray that you would cause us to respond with great gratitude to such a wonderful God and with great humility before you and before our fellows and we ask this in Jesus name Amen we'll close our service by singing 564 506 and and we'll sing together [Music] the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen let us pray God thank you for your grace thank you for your goodness thank you that you are Father Son and Holy Spirit the one true and living God the one worthy to be praised and glorified and worshiped we thank you for showing us these things in the scriptures we thank you for showing us our own sinful hearts and showing us the Savior for such sinners and God we want to magnify and praise and glorify you and on this day father help us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord and we pray in his most blessed name Amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation after the piano stops playing I'll come back up and pray well thank God for the food that we're gonna eat