1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,080 Good morning. I like how clappy you have been 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:06,080 this morning. We have just sung about the 3 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:08,880 goodness of our God. Yes, Amen. 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,720 Let's hear a great expression of the goodness of God that he 5 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:15,880 speaks to us. He speaks to us. 6 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,960 How awesome. How good is that? 7 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,080 My friends, you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you 8 00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:26,600 once walked, following the course of this world, following 9 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,160 the Prince of the power of the air, the Spirit that is now at 10 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,680 work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all 11 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:36,400 once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the 12 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:38,200 desires of the flesh and the mind. 13 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:43,120 And we're by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. 14 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,760 But God being rich in mercy because of His great love with 15 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:52,880 which He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, God 16 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:57,040 made us alive with Christ. By grace you have been saved, 17 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,040 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the 18 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,440 heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He 19 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,320 might show His immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness 20 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:12,960 towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved 21 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:15,440 through faith, and this not your own doing. 22 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,880 It is a gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one 23 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,920 may boast. For we are His workmanship, 24 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:25,840 created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared 25 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,200 beforehand, that we should walk in them. 26 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:32,440 Amen. This is the word of the Lord. 27 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:34,320 Let's be to God. Dear Lord. 28 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:38,280 God, we pray that as we hear this word that it would not just 29 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,000 resonate in our heads, but that it would change our hearts. 30 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,480 Lord, we want to be transformed by the power of this word, by 31 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,600 the power of Your Word every time you speak to us, so that 32 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:51,760 indeed we might be more and more faithful servants of you, 33 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,200 followers of you in all that we do. 34 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,600 We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. 35 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:01,320 Please proceeded and grab your Bibles and turn to Ephesians 36 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,200 chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. 37 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,479 Most of you are going to be familiar with the distinction 38 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:13,920 between believing something and really believing something, 39 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,240 between believing something and really believing in it. 40 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,160 Most of us immediately can associate what that is. 41 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,440 Kelly and I, past couple of weeks, went to the Grand Canyon. 42 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:25,840 By your grace, we were able to go. 43 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,160 We went to the Grand Canyon and beforehand, I believe that the 44 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:31,880 Grand Canyon was grand. Everybody says so. 45 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,520 I've seen pictures. It marks it itself out. 46 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,040 I knew that the Grand Canyon was grand, but once you get there 47 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:43,760 you really know how grand it is. I was young when I realised that 48 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,560 having children would change your life, that having kids 49 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,480 would be a major factor in your life and would transform what's 50 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:54,600 happening here. I believe that long ago, but 51 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,120 once I had kids, man, did I ever believe that. 52 00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:59,680 It was a belief structure that was totally different. 53 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:04,040 Part of the celebration of my faith has always been a global 54 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,360 understanding of our God. How globally gracious and good 55 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:09,640 and powerful and overwhelming is our God. 56 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,080 You recognize that about God. And then I've had the 57 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,400 opportunity to worship with congregations around this world, 58 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,800 and you see God worshipped and praised around this world, and 59 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,040 believing this global picture of God takes on an entirely 60 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,560 different perspective. Once you see some of these 61 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:27,160 things. There's believing in something, 62 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,040 and then there's really believing in something. 63 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,600 Today we're going to talk about the fact that Hebron Church is 64 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,760 and desires to be a Reformed congregation. 65 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,760 And what we're going to emphasize in that understanding 66 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,120 is the distinction between believing in something and 67 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:48,480 really believing in something. As we've moved into the EPC and 68 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,000 there's a good way to get us going here in our understanding, 69 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:53,560 our self understanding of who we are. 70 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,760 I've come up with a phrase in which I think captures both what 71 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:02,560 Hebron is right now to some extent and what we desire to be. 72 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,680 Now, the distinction there is one that I think, as I talked 73 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,000 through a lot of these characteristics, I hope that 74 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,080 you've been able to say, Oh yes, that sounds like Hebron. 75 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,520 That sounds like who we are. And yet also that there's a part 76 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,839 of your mind always going, but boy, we could be so much better 77 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,079 at these areas. So we looked at what it means 78 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:23,760 that we are biblically based. And sure, we're a biblically 79 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,160 based church and I hope that leaks it out and I hope that 80 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,240 shows in everything we do. But my friends, we could do that 81 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,480 so much better. We're a Christ centered 82 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,600 congregation. I hope that shows in everything. 83 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:37,720 I hope that shows in our worship. 84 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:38,880 I hope that shows in our programs. 85 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,800 I hope that shows in our interactions with one another as 86 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,000 we're talking with one another. I hope that Christ centered 87 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,120 nature of who we are actually shows itself in those ways. 88 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:50,760 But my friends, we could be so much better. 89 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:53,600 We could be so much better in our worship and our service and 90 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,680 our nurture and how we do all these things so consistently. 91 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,320 This description that I have laid out for us, I think is both 92 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,600 a, a description of who we currently are. 93 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,000 I want it. If you can't recognize us in 94 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,200 this description, then we are failing you tremendously in this 95 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:11,560 regard. But also there should be a 96 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,680 yearning to have an even greater expression of this. 97 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,840 So here's the description that we've been using here. 98 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,880 Hebron is a biblically based, Christ centered community of 99 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,480 disciples, A Reformed classically evangelical church 100 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,800 in the Presbyterian tradition, worshipping, growing and serving 101 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,280 Christ in the East Hills of Pittsburgh. 102 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,360 OK, Now we've looked at a number of these characteristics already 103 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,560 today, and today what I want to focus on is this idea of 104 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,640 Reformed. We are a reformed congregation. 105 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,440 Now, if you've been a part of our congregation for any period 106 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,800 of time, if you've worshipped with us, you will have heard 107 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,360 that terminology. We're a Reformed Church. 108 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:54,560 We're reformed theology. We reform in our thinking. 109 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:56,760 Along these lines. What I want to take a little bit 110 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:58,760 of time is just lay this out now. 111 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:04,360 There are seminary classes that go on for years that touch on 112 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,960 the nature of what it means to be reformed, etcetera, etcetera. 113 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,600 And we're not going to do that tonight, today, tonight until 114 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:12,560 tomorrow. No, we're just going to have a 115 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,480 discussion, what I hope are some of the highlights about what it 116 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,440 means to be reformed. So what I want to do is I want 117 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,080 to hit on three characteristics really quickly. 118 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,160 I want to hit on two of them really quickly and one of them 119 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,920 in in a little bit more depth. When we say that we're reformed, 120 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:30,680 one of the things that we're doing is we are identifying 121 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,520 ourselves with a history and with a tradition. 122 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:36,680 A history and a tradition that dates back centuries. 123 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:39,640 Now, if you think about the Christian Church in terms of a 124 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:42,800 tree, it's always the imagery that works the best in this 125 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,720 regard as a tree that grows throughout time. 126 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,920 The starting from the very beginning of the church all the 127 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:51,960 way through time, there have been different branches that 128 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:53,560 have developed as the church has evolved. 129 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,600 As the church has grow, it developed into certain branches 130 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:58,640 that share a history in the tradition. 131 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:02,280 So you've got the Orthodox branch, you've got the Catholic 132 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:04,480 branch, you've got the Methodist branch, you've got the 133 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,040 Episcopalian branch, you've got all these branches. 134 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,560 Well, one of those branches is the Presbyterian or the Reformed 135 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:13,680 branch. That's the branch in which we 136 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,400 associate ourselves with. So when we say that we're a 137 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:18,520 Presbyterian, I'm sorry, I keep messing that up. 138 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,080 When I say that we are a Reformed Church, one of the 139 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,920 things I'm intentionally doing is identifying with a certain 140 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,920 history, a certain tradition. I am saying, look, the history 141 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,240 that brought us to this point right now is not insignificant 142 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,000 for the way in in which Hebron functions, and that is certainly 143 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:37,760 true. It is to our great detriment 144 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,800 that we are as ignorant as we are about the history, church 145 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,120 history, because it really does factor into and it shapes and 146 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,160 changes a lot of what we are. If you ask why we do certain 147 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:51,240 things, why we look a certain way, the way we function in 148 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,800 terms of our community, some of it is related simply to the 149 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,360 fact, well, we are connected to those men and women who have 150 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,360 gone before us that have helped shape and think through what it 151 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,600 means to be a faithful body of believers together. 152 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,040 So part of it is just the history in which we are 153 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,600 connected with. Again, we are at the default. 154 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,600 We are at a detriment to ourselves when we don't pursue, 155 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,800 when we don't understand more about that history. 156 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,360 We have a blessed but growth group that is growing right now 157 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,320 that is focusing on church history. 158 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,720 I would encourage you to spend some time learning some of those 159 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,440 kind of things. It is immensely helpful in your 160 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:30,800 growth and in your understanding of the scriptures. 161 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:33,320 So the first thing when we talk about Reformed is that we are 162 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,200 self consciously self identifying with the history. 163 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:38,360 I'm not spending a lot of time with this. 164 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,000 I don't know how helpful it would be to spend a lot of time 165 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,800 with it, with you from the stage, but it would be 166 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,600 incredibly helpful I think, if you went back and looked. 167 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,120 What does Reformed look like over the past centuries? 168 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:53,120 That's first, the history of the church. 169 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,520 Secondly, there's an an attitude of life. 170 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:01,000 There's an approach to life that the reformed churches embrace 171 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:05,560 that is essential to the way in which we do things, and that is 172 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:09,880 captured well in the phrase reformed and always reforming. 173 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,240 We are a church that is reformed and always reforming. 174 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,840 Now slow down for a second. Reformed. 175 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,240 Reformed actually does kind of mean what the word means. 176 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,280 You know, sometimes we say things and because they're 177 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,600 theological words, we assume that they mean something that 178 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:30,040 they don't. Reformed means to form again, to 179 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:34,160 shape again, to be molded again. So a Reformed Church is a church 180 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,280 that has been shaped again, molded again. 181 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,520 And the picture is to a Reformed Church is a church that is 182 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:45,600 reformed, remolded, and is always being reformed, molded. 183 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,120 Now, what do we mean by that? What we're capturing is the 184 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:54,200 reality that as any institution exists, as any person grows and 185 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,280 matures, as any thought process develops, there is going to be a 186 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:02,000 drift away from the norm that is before us. 187 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,280 What is the norm for all church? What is the norm for Hebron 188 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:06,480 Church? What is the norm for every 189 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:08,480 Christian? Of course it is Scripture 190 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:10,600 itself. Scripture is our norm. 191 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,760 Scripture is that straight arrow that is pointing straight ahead. 192 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,160 And as the church goes and develops, no matter how straight 193 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:21,840 it starts, the realities are in life that because of sin and 194 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,000 because of brokenness and because of our natural human 195 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,000 limitations, we start fading a little way away from that norm. 196 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:30,840 That consistently happens. Have you ever been driving and 197 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,520 the roads going straight and the car is going straight and you 198 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:37,080 let go of the steering wheel just to see how long your car 199 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:38,200 can go straight before it starts? 200 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:42,080 I have never done that. That is dangerous. 201 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:44,880 What a terrible illustration. Don't ever do that. 202 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:46,520 But you know what that would be like? 203 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,720 You would go for a while and the car would eventually, no matter 204 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:51,760 how straight the road is, no matter how straight the car is 205 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:55,680 going, in time it would drift. And So what do we need to do? 206 00:10:55,680 --> 00:11:00,800 We need to reform always to the scriptures, reform always to the 207 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:02,160 word of God. Now, what does this mean for 208 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:06,040 Hebron? It means self consciously we are 209 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:10,640 aware that while our history is a beautiful one, and while what 210 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,600 we've done in the past 15 years has been beautiful and while 211 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,520 we've what we've done in the last 15 days has been beautiful 212 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:19,120 and what we've done in the last 15 minutes has been beautiful, 213 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:24,240 there is that constant tug of sin and worldliness that pulls 214 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,600 US ever so slightly away from that norm, that scripture. 215 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,280 And so we need to be self consciously a church that is 216 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,760 reformed and is always being reformed, always being shaped 217 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,240 back to the Scriptures. So what you should be able to 218 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,120 see, what you should be able to identify is that there are 219 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,040 moments in time where the leadership of the church kind of 220 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,360 Yanks us back, or where the congregation in the church Yanks 221 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,400 us back always to the Scriptures, where we're always 222 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:52,920 being measured by that standard, that authority, that word of 223 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,240 God. Now, I'm jumping ahead a little 224 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,160 bit, but it's hard not to say this to you. 225 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:05,600 If the institution can fade in time, so can every individual 226 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,960 fade in time. You could have a rock solid 227 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:11,600 faith and rock solid expression of your faith, and you cannot 228 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,120 think you are changing and deviating at all from that. 229 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:18,840 My friends, the power of sin is such that it pulls us away from 230 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,840 that norm. You too, if Heaven Church is 231 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,920 going to be a church that is reformed and always reforming, 232 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:31,360 you too need to be an individual that is reformed and always 233 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:33,600 reforming. That is, that is always holding 234 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:37,760 forth that concept of the standard that is before you and 235 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:41,080 checking yourself consistently so that you are always being 236 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,960 yanked back to the standard. That is the only truth, the only 237 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,000 role of life and faith, Scripture itself. 238 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:50,760 So we have a history. When we talk about reforms, 239 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:54,200 we're talking about history. We're talking about an attitude, 240 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:55,640 a way in which we approach things. 241 00:12:55,920 --> 00:13:00,080 But primarily when we talk about reforms, what we're identifying 242 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,400 is a certain theology, a certain way of looking at the 243 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,240 scriptures, or rather a certain way of forcing us that the 244 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,960 scriptures force us to look at. When we read the Scriptures, we 245 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,360 see the Scriptures speak to us in certain ways and certain 246 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:18,080 fashions, and we want to emphasize what the Scripture 247 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,200 emphasizes. We want to stress what the 248 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:24,320 Scripture itself stresses. And we believe that that. 249 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,560 So there's a, a reformed way of looking at the Bible. 250 00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:30,760 There's a reformed way of looking at the at the Trinity. 251 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,680 There's a reformed way of looking at our sin, of creation, 252 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,920 at the work of the Holy Spirit, of the Spirit's gifts in our 253 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:38,200 lives and the work of the church. 254 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:43,840 There's a Reformed theology that arises out of the Scripture that 255 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,040 captures those things. But when we talk about Reformed 256 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:52,840 in in a quick and helpful way, we are largely talking about 3 257 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:54,960 emphasis. Now these are this is that idea 258 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,120 that you know, you can believe it, but then you can really 259 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,480 believe it. The Reformed Church has a robust 260 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:09,080 view of the sovereignty of God. It also has a robust view of the 261 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:14,120 depravity of sin, and it has a robust view of the work of 262 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,240 grace. Now, there's more to Reformed 263 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,600 theology, but what we do is when we read the scriptures, we think 264 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,640 that the scriptures that are advocating robust, I'm talking 265 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:32,160 about a strong, definitive, aggressive, dominant, kind of a 266 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,360 thing like coffee, a robust flavor of a coffee or something 267 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:37,320 like that. So I hope the robust doesn't 268 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,600 throw you off. It's a robust view of the 269 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,920 sovereignty of God. Now let me stop for a second and 270 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,560 once again emphasize what I think you would automatically 271 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,240 realize is that every Christian to some extent throughout the 272 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:52,960 world thinks about the sovereignty of God and 273 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:54,640 recognizes the sovereignty of God. 274 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,480 You can't read the Scriptures, even casually, and not come away 275 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,200 with any other picture other than the God rules the world. 276 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,360 God is sovereign, He rules, He has authority, He has power, 277 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:05,920 etcetera, etcetera. That's what we're talking about 278 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,440 when we talk about the sovereignty of God. 279 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,760 God has sovereign control over all things. 280 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,160 Every Christian is going to embrace that to some extent. 281 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,640 When we talk about the Reform, the Reformed are insistent on 282 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:20,880 speaking definitively where we think the Scripture speaks 283 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,240 definitively. And where the Scripture speaks 284 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,920 about the sovereignty of God, it doesn't have a soft sovereignty 285 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,640 or a limited sovereignty. It advocates for a very robust, 286 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:33,200 a strong view of God's sovereignty. 287 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,120 So a lot of people think, well, yeah, God control everything, 288 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,320 but there are he does so limit He's limited in certain ways. 289 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:45,000 Now what do I mean by that? Well, our human actions shift 290 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,360 and change things in God's plan and he has to adjust and correct 291 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:53,880 himself or the the struggle with the devil that there is 292 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:56,960 spiritual warfare out there and and there then the struggle with 293 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:00,160 the devil limits God's sovereign expression or something like 294 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,760 that. Or that God limits himself in 295 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,920 his sovereign expression, that he controls what he decides, 296 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:08,080 what he's not going to do and what he's going to leave up to 297 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:09,640 somebody else to do, etcetera, etcetera. 298 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:15,160 When we talk not idolatry in the Scriptures, idolatry is not 299 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:19,400 necessarily in the Scriptures the displacing of God with a 300 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:22,560 different divine being, with the worship of something else. 301 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,880 In the Old Testament in particular, what you see with 302 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:29,840 idolatry, it's the elevating something else to the same 303 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:33,120 status of God. This is why the Scriptures say 304 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,040 you will have no other gods before me. 305 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,920 There will not be any other God but God himself. 306 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:39,960 He is a sovereign over all things. 307 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,000 And it is that, it is that robust understanding of 308 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,360 sovereignty that plays into the way in which we are saved. 309 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:51,440 How, my friends, are we saved? We are saved by God's work, by 310 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,240 God's initiative. God takes the initiative to save 311 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,440 us. God does the work in saving us. 312 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,320 God applies that work into our lives to save us. 313 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,560 Our salvation is in God's hands and God's alone. 314 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:04,760 There is no other competitor to that. 315 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:08,880 There is no other factor that determines things other than God 316 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,960 himself. This is that robust picture of 317 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,880 God's sovereignty. Again, lots of people recognize 318 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:18,560 that God can have sovereignty over all things. 319 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:23,079 The Reformed Church reminds, captures that picture from the 320 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:27,000 Scriptures that say, no, God is the one who is sovereign over 321 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,840 all things. God is sovereign over all. 322 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:31,760 We have a robust view of sovereignty. 323 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:37,320 Secondly, there's a robust view of the depravity of sin. 324 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,440 And once again, it's going to be really hard to be to find any 325 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,560 Christian that doesn't recognize that sin is a bad thing. 326 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,440 Every Christian across the board is going to acknowledge sin is 327 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,360 bad, etcetera, etcetera. But the Reformed churches have 328 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:56,760 tried to capture the biblical teaching about sin, that sin is 329 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:00,120 not something that is bad or disappointing or discouraging to 330 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:02,200 God. Sin is not something that annoys 331 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,160 God. Sin is something that God hates 332 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,880 with the full form of that word that you can imagine he hates 333 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:11,800 it. God hates sin. 334 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,200 Sin is not something that we have to work through. 335 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,040 Sin is not something that we struggle with. 336 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,720 Sin is not something that we, you know, we had kind of have to 337 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:21,600 work our way around or something like that. 338 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:23,880 Sin is something that God punishes. 339 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:29,680 God punishes sin in this world. Sin is not something that is 340 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:35,280 just kind of a bother to us. Sin is something that Jesus came 341 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:42,040 to give his life to pay for. If sin is as horrific as the 342 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,560 Scriptures identify it, then it makes sense that the only 343 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:50,080 solution is the death of God himself is the God man himself, 344 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,600 Jesus Christ. And so when we understand the 345 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,680 nature of sin as the Bible portrays it, we realize that sin 346 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,520 is not something that that. Now, we don't preach Hellfire 347 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,600 and damnation here at this church because we want to see 348 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,040 you squirm, although that's always fun. 349 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,560 I, I, I don't do that because I get a kick out of wagging my 350 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:15,880 finger at you or wagging my finger at me. 351 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:20,040 What we do is we proclaim A robust view of sin because the 352 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:26,160 Bible portrays A robust view of sin, and not just sin, but the 353 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,840 depravity of sin. Now depravity is a word that 354 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,560 doesn't just mean that we are as bad as we can possibly get. 355 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,440 Look, you all can be a lot worse than what you are right now. 356 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,680 We all know that we can be so much worse than what we are 357 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:43,720 right now. And it's by God's grace that it 358 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,680 restrains those sinful impulses. So you don't let go of the 359 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:48,440 steering wheel when your car is going straight down a straight 360 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,480 Rd. So we don't fall into sin in 361 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:53,920 those kind of in those kind of ways we can be worse than what 362 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:55,320 we are. But nevertheless, the Bible 363 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:59,640 teaches a depravity of sin that means that it impacts Everything 364 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:04,040 Everywhere. It is easy for us. 365 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,840 To talk about the sin out there and to look at what the sin is 366 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,600 doing in this world and say, my gosh, there is chaos out there. 367 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:14,840 And they come up with the silliest ideas and they promote 368 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:18,960 the most ridiculous concepts, and they are advocating for the 369 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,600 death of our society. According to the scriptural 370 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,400 norms. It's easy for us to identify the 371 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,160 sin out there, but the depravity of sin, a robust view of the 372 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:31,520 depravity of sin, recognizes that the sin out there is 373 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:37,160 exactly the sin that is in here, that is in here. 374 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,640 Yeah, it shows itself differently, but there's no 375 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,640 difference between the depravity that is out there and that is 376 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:50,320 here, that is sinful, that wraps its way around every aspect of 377 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:53,400 who we are. And so you've got the teaching 378 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:57,360 of this robust view of the depravity of sin, which reminds 379 00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:03,160 us that it's not US versus them. It's not awesome. 1 standard and 380 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,920 them on a different standard. It is all of us standing under 381 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,520 the same position of being condemned and judged and guilty 382 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:16,000 in our sin, save for the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ, 383 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:22,720 which is that third picture of the Reformed theology, a robust 384 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:28,320 view of the work of grace. And once again, every Christian 385 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,280 one way or another is going to recognize God's grace in things. 386 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,800 We all know that God does things that are good to us. 387 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:37,000 We all recognize one way or another that we need God's help 388 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,280 to get over the hump and those kind of things. 389 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,000 So we kind of picture God's grace is functioning. 390 00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:44,760 For a lot of people, God's grace functions like this. 391 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:47,120 Here's this big hill that is before us. 392 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:50,160 We're living this life here and we're struggling in life, and we 393 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:51,640 got this big hill that's before us. 394 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,720 And over here is salvation in heaven and God's blessings and 395 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:56,640 stuff like that. And we've got this big hill that 396 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,400 we have to climb and we look at the hill and we say, Oh my gosh, 397 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,840 I can't get over that. But I, we try. 398 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,960 And it's a responsibility to get pushing and we get a little bit 399 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,600 of a way. Some of you get 1/2 of the way, 400 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,160 some of you get less than that. And we get part way up the hill, 401 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:12,880 etcetera. And then God comes along and 402 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,680 gives us his grace by pushing us over the hill. 403 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,200 That is not a biblical picture of grace. 404 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,080 It sure isn't a Reformed picture of grace. 405 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:27,240 The Reformed picture of grace says this We are dead in our 406 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:29,440 sins. There's no going up that hill. 407 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,280 There's no looking at that hill and despairing. 408 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,760 There is a recognition that we have nothing, that we bring 409 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:39,280 nothing to the table but our sinful selves and our complete 410 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,600 inability to do anything but on behalf of our salvation. 411 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,560 And it's not that God gives us that little extra that we're 412 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:48,960 missing to get us over the hump. It's that we've got nothing to 413 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,040 give it all, and God gives it all. 414 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:57,280 God's grace is his unmerited blessing to every sinful Sinner. 415 00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:59,880 That's his God's grace. When he pushes, he doesn't 416 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:02,400 pushes the final couple feet over the hill. 417 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:06,440 He grants us everything, every bit of salvation. 418 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,920 A robust view of grace recognizes that when we come 419 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:14,640 before our Lord and Savior, we come completely, completely 420 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:18,600 unable to do anything on our behalf. 421 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,160 And we are dependent completely and totally. 422 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:26,920 Now why are we so unable? Because of this complete 423 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:32,240 depravity of our sin? Then why are we left-leaning 424 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,760 completely and totally into the goodness of our God, our 425 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,000 sovereign God who takes all the initiative, who takes all the 426 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,800 work on our behalf? If we're going to be a Reformed 427 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:48,520 Church, that the teaching, the undergirding of everything in 428 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,520 which we do is going to stress this robust view of the 429 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,840 sovereignty of God, of the depravity of sin, and of the 430 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,400 marvelous work of God's grace and salvation. 431 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,840 If you're going to be a Reformed believer, you're going to be a 432 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,320 believer that sees in the Scripture that that recognizes 433 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,160 that the Scripture screams about the sovereignty of God, that the 434 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,840 Scripture screams about the depravity of sin and how horrid 435 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,880 it is. And it screams that God's 436 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:22,400 salvation, salvific grace is his solution to the trauma in which 437 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:27,280 we find ourselves is God's grace that brings us into his 438 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,920 presence. And that's nowhere pictured as 439 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,120 well is in the table that we come to. 440 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,640 I would urge you, I read through Ephesians chapter 2 earlier and 441 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,520 part of the intent was to walk through that text and just show 442 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:44,720 you how it screams out those 3 notions of a robust view of the 443 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,000 sovereignty of God, a robust view of of our depravity and 444 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,080 sin, and a robust view of God's grace. 445 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,840 I urge you, I beg you, look back at that text and see if it 446 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:58,600 doesn't speak exactly and directly to those, to those 447 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,800 points. But if we see it in God's Word, 448 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,760 it is wonderful to experience it through God's sacrament. 449 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,200 We come to the table, picture what is here. 450 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:14,440 We articulated the body and blood of Jesus Christ, His 451 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:21,600 death, predicated by whom? By God himself was his decision, 452 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:26,720 His initiative, His plan to lead you to this spot where we come 453 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,000 to the table of our Lord. Why is it body and blood? 454 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,120 Because it was his death, fully his death. 455 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:37,080 Why? Because of the great depravity 456 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,080 that we are under. If sin wasn't so bad, he could 457 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,720 have come up with a different plan that didn't involve the 458 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,240 life of his own son. But instead, we celebrate the 459 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:50,400 life of His own son here because we realize how bad sin really 460 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:56,600 is, and we see His love and grace for us, that He comes here 461 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:01,080 even at the cost of His own son, so that He might meet us at this 462 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:01,560 table.