- Sunday Service 8/24/2025

*Piano music* *Piano music* *Piano music* *Piano music* *Piano music* *Piano music* *Piano music* Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Happy Lord's Day. We will now begin our service. May the words. In the words of my bow, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

I beg you, you're my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. You're my heart, you're my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. Every hour, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

May the words, in the words, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. That Jesus was, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. Most people who are, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. What to do with the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

All over the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And if you say that, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. But he who does the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart.

And the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart, in the meditations of my heart. They're no longer, they're no longer, they're no longer, they're no longer, they're no longer, they're no longer belong here, but belong to God. And so, the third meaning of it is to embrace this new identity.

So, to believe, to acknowledge and turn, and then to embrace this new identity. So, the word confess is used in all of these contexts. So, let me summarize the meaning behind the word confess. To confess, to confess in this context means to embrace with our life and confession what we have come to believe.

Okay. Let me say that again. To confess. When Jesus says, he who confesses me before men, the word confess, in this context, means to embrace with our life and confession what we have come to believe. Okay. Now, why is this important? Because this helps us to understand the next part.

The next part that we see in chapter 12, verse 10. What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Okay. So, any text that's difficult, the first thing that you have to understand is the context. Correct? Okay. Like I told you, am I losing some of you? Okay. You have to understand the context.

So, there is the immediate context, and then the larger context. Okay. The immediate context, when he says, everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. Now, if you read verses 8 through 12, verses 8 and 9, it talks about confessing Jesus.

If you read verses 11 and 12, it talks about confessing Jesus. And then in verse 10, right in the middle of that, it says, he who says a word against the Son of Man, and he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, will not be forgiven. So, clearly the context in which this verse is given is in the context of confessing Christ.

So, is he all of a sudden giving a parenthetical meaning? Meaning, he took a break and decided to kind of, hey, hey, you know, I'm talking about confession, but I want to make sure that you understand this. There are certain things that you cannot do. And then he comes back to confession.

Or is he still talking about confession? What do you think? Yeah, he's talking about confession. He's not taking a break and saying, hey, I'm talking about confessing Christ before men. I'm talking about being bold. But then I'm going to just take a, hey, but don't forget that there are certain sins that you cannot commit or you're not going to be forgiven.

No, the immediate context of it is he's talking about confession. We've already concluded that confessing means to come to faith in something, embracing and turning away from sin. It's not just talking about what you're saying with your words, right? That's the meaning behind it. So, what does this mean here then?

What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit that he is referring to? Now, people have, you know, different opinions about this. But again, if you're going to come to a conclusion, you have to give evidence, hermeneutical, contextual, biblical evidence behind your conclusion. You can't just say, oh, this is what I think, right?

Whatever your thoughts are, it has to be based upon your careful study of the Word of God. So, we look at the context. He's talking about confession, a genuine conversion of faith. But then he uses the word blasphemy. Blasphemy. So, what does this word blasphemy mean? Right? The word blasphemy, blasphemeia, means to slander, insult, speak evil against something.

Right? That's what, I guess, no duh, we know that. Okay? But again, when Jesus is speaking here, what is the larger context? The immediate context is talking about confession, genuine conversion. Right? The larger context, who is he speaking to? In the previous passage, we looked at how Jesus was warning about the Pharisees, about the leaven of their hypocrisy, to not to fear them.

And the reason why, if you go all the way back to chapter 11, Jesus is casting out demons. Remember what the Pharisees said? I think in verse 9, it begins to start, and the Pharisees come in, and they accuse him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub.

That Satan is casting out Satan, and Jesus gives a whole discourse about how that doesn't make any sense. A kingdom divided cannot stand. But basically, they were pointing to Jesus and saying, because they didn't like what Jesus was saying, that he must be demonic. So that's the context in which Jesus is speaking, about their blasphemy, because they're pointing to the Son of God, and they're saying that he is from the devil.

Now, that's the context, okay? So, the general understanding of this is that he is referring to, in the immediate context, of unbelief. Right? Because the confession means believing, genuinely believing. So, here, he's in general reference to the Pharisees who are rejecting Christ. Generally speaking, Pharisees who are rejecting Christ and blaspheming his name, because they do not receive him.

In fact, Paul himself says in 1 Timothy 1.13, Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor, yet I have been shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief. Now, was Apostle Paul a blasphemer in the context of him being a Jew? You follow?

Would he have been considered a blasphemer as a Jew before his conversion? What is he referring to when he says he was a blasphemer? Paul himself says he was a Pharisee among Pharisees. As to the law, he was perfect. So, he said, you want to go toe-to-toe about the law?

Let's go. Right? You want to boast about the flesh? Let's go. Let's compare. So, if you're talking about who's righteous by the law, I can beat you. So, when he says that he was a blasphemer, he's not talking about disobeying the law. He's talking about his unbelief. Before he believed in Jesus, he was a blasphemer because he rejected the Son of God.

Now, hopefully you're following, okay? So, I'm not done yet. Okay? So, the context of it is unbelief. Unbelief of the Pharisees who are saying because he can't be from God, he must be from the devil. Okay? So, the next question is, if he's talking about unbelief, why does he say that if you speak a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him?

But if you blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. Okay? I'm trying to see how many of you are following along. It's like some of you have already given up. All right? Why does he say that to the Son of Man? If it's just unbelief, why would the unbelief of Jesus be forgiven, but unbelief of the Holy Spirit not be forgiven?

Okay. I think there's a clear answer to that. At this point, the Holy Spirit has not been given. What is the distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant? We talked about this before. What is the primary distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant? What is the sign of the New Covenant?

What is the sign of the New Covenant? Holy Spirit. All right. Holy Spirit. Right? He said that in the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit is going to be indwelling in you. In fact, before the Holy Spirit, what did the disciples do? They denied Christ to his face. So if this is just in reference to, right, just saying the words, obviously even the disciples were guilty of this.

Before the Holy Spirit came, the disciples did not have the courage, did not have the power. They knew what was right, but they couldn't do it. That's why in Romans chapter 7, he says, what I want to do, I do not want to do. Oh, what a wretched man that I am.

And then we get to chapter 8. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Christ did what we could not do in the flesh by sending his Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is a distinction between the Old and the New Covenant. And that's why in Acts chapter 1, he says, you will be my witnesses when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

When the power comes upon you in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the remotest part of the world. And then when the New Covenant is inaugurated, at the day of Pentecost, and Pentecost is when they celebrated the receiving of the law in the Old Covenant. Now they're receiving what? The Holy Spirit in the New Covenant.

So he says, even as Jesus is going, in John chapter 14, he says, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will teach you and guide you and to remember everything that I have said to you. Right now, you're hearing me, but you don't understand. Even the disciples didn't fully understand.

But the Holy Spirit is going to guide you. And then in chapter 16, after telling them, you're not going to bear fruit unless you abide in me. Meaning that you're going to have to continue in the work of the Holy Spirit. In chapter 16, the Holy Spirit is going to convict the world of sin and righteousness.

So what he means here is that now, you may not understand who I am. Now you may speak these things of me, but when the work is finished. When the new wine comes into the new wineskin. Remember when Jesus said, a new wine cannot go into the old wineskin or else the old wineskin is going to burst.

Is he talking about wine? Right? Is he saying that those of you who drink, that you need to get new bags? Right? He's giving us practical advice. Some of you? No. No, he's talking about the Holy Spirit. He said the Holy Spirit cannot go into the old covenant. The reason why we need to be made new by the blood of Christ is because only those who have been covered by the blood of Christ can the Holy Spirit enter.

So in the old covenant, they're hearing Jesus, but the power of the Holy Spirit is not upon them yet. So he says, if you speak against the Son of Man because you don't have the Holy Spirit, just like the disciples did, but when the new covenant comes and the Holy Spirit comes, you have been given everything that you need for the life of godliness.

And this is why Jesus says, when he was crucified on the cross, what does he say? What is the last thing that he says on the cross? Everything that was needed for salvation is complete. There's nothing that you need to wait for. So what he means by blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is, after you have received everything that you need, and you still walk away from God, there is no forgiveness.

This is illustrated in Hebrews chapter 6, 4 to 6. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. He's not talking about somebody who's genuinely converted. He's talking about somebody who's in the church, who's around the power of the Holy Spirit.

The word of God is being taught. They understand what the gospel is, and have tasted the good word of God and powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away. And then you choose to follow the world. It is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucified to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shape.

Does that mean that anybody who backslides, if they come back and repent, God will not forgive them? I'm one of those people. No, he's talking about somebody after he's received everything that is necessary for salvation, and then he says, it is not enough. I don't believe. He chooses, he continues to choose to live his old life.

Because salvation is found in Christ and Christ alone. He says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. But after he finished his work on the cross, after the Holy Spirit has come as an indwelling, as a guarantee, a deposit, and you've been exposed to all of that, and then you choose not to come to Christ.

He says, there is no other path of forgiveness. There's only one mediator between us and God, which is Christ Jesus. So the reason why he distinguishes between the Son of Man and the Holy Spirit is because the Holy Spirit is the power of the covenant, the new covenant. That's why he says in verse 7 and 8 of Hebrews, for the ground that drinks the rain, which often falls on it, and brings forth vegetation, useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God.

But if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. In other words, all of us has been given the same benefit. The rain fell everywhere, and yet you chose to walk away. That's what this means. So the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is seeing and participant and having the same access to God, and then you choose not to take it.

There is no forgiveness. So the natural question that we ask is, why is unbelief so offensive to God? Of all the sins, murder, right? Murderers can be forgiven. I mean, I don't even want to mention some of the hideous sins that you and I can possibly imagine. But they can all be forgiven if they come before Christ.

But this sin of unbelief, that you can live your life righteously and feed the poor, and you can live your life generously and taking care of the people who are in need, and yet you do not believe and you reject Christ, there is no other forgiveness. One, we don't understand the hideousness of every sin.

We don't know the gap between us and God. So it is not possible for us. But I want you to think of it from God's perspective. When Jesus says, it is finished. Finished means that what he started came to conclusion. That's what he means, it is finished. So is he saying that what he came to do, so 33 years of work, now it is finished.

Yes, that's part of it. But the beginning was not Jesus' incarnation. The beginning goes all the way back to Genesis. As soon as they fall, he makes a promise. Right? He made a promise that the seed of the woman was going to crush the head of the serpent. So he promised that the Messiah was going to come.

So if you look at the redemptive history, when he says it is finished, he's saying that all that he has been doing through history, everything that he has been doing to bring about the salvation of sinners, instead of wiping us out, he chose and prepared for the coming of his son.

So he endured the nation of Israel as they were rebelling stiff-necked. Like, if you look at Israel's history, you don't come out of that thinking like, wow, these are good people. I mean, constantly. There's moments of revival in their history, but majority of it is they're rebelling against God over and over and over again.

And most people who read the Old Testament think, wow, God is harsh. He wipes out nations. He goes to Jericho and he wipes out this whole city, everything in it, even the animals. And we have a tendency to look at what God's doing. And then if you look at, if you read the Old Testament carefully, I think you're going to have the same conclusion that I have.

Why did God endure with them? Why would he, why didn't he just crush them over and over again? He endured through stiff-necked people who kept on forgetting, kept on going after idols. And yet he endured with them. And then he gives them the law. The whole point of the law is to make sure that when his son came, that they would be able to recognize him.

That there was a desperate need for him. Instead, they used the law to think that somehow, that if they kept the law, that they were going to somehow pay for their sins. And they became proud and arrogant through the law, instead of being humbled and waiting for the son.

And yet he endured through them. He allowed this to continue. All for what purpose? To send his only begotten son. His only beloved son. He endured through all of that rebellion. All of that blasphemy. For what purpose? To demonstrate his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners.

That he would die for us. That he would send the only begotten son to die for us. And you ever hear politicians where they get so nasty and they start going after their wives and their children. And you can tell that they're pretty thick skinned because that's part of politics.

And then all of a sudden they start attacking their wife or attacking their children. And they say, you have gone too far. You know, I may be fair game because I entered politics. But when you start attacking my kids, now it's personal. And you can tell it hurt them.

Christ's intention from the beginning was to offer up his only begotten son. And he endured not lovely people. Not people who at times did something wrong. But continuously rebelled against God. He endured through that. And Jesus, in every way equal with God. Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.

Remember who Jesus is. He was the second person of the Trinity sitting on the throne. Where the creatures are traveling around the throne saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. All the angels, all the creatures are constantly worshiping and giving glory to Jesus. Jesus is that God.

And he said, he let go of all of that in obedience to his father to be humiliated and walked on this earth for 30 years with people questioning him. Prove yourself. What authority do you have? And even the good that he did. He said, he's doing it with demonic power.

And every time. Can you imagine how much restraint it must have taken him not to crush them in every instance? Again, so the question is, why did he not do that? So when he says it is finished. All of that. What he started from the beginning. He said it has come to completion.

And when the fullness of time has come. He was crucified. Washed us. And then sent this Holy Spirit. To convict us. To guide us. To lead us. And then he tells us to abide in him. Hebrews 2.3 says, How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

All throughout the book of Hebrews. He's not talking about idol worship. He's not talking about murder. He's talking about neglecting. Just drifting. Their rebellion against God was they considered something so sacred. Giving of his only begotten son. And then to simply say. I don't know if I believe that.

Or. You say. You know what? Yeah. I mean. Okay. Yeah. I get it. I get it. Okay. And just neglecting. And just drifting. How. How. Offended. Our God must be. In Hebrews chapter 12. 28. And on. It says. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses. Dies without mercy.

And the testimony. Of two. Or three witnesses. How much severe punishment do you think he will deserve. Who has trampled underfoot the son of God. And has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant. By which he was sanctified. And insulted. Blasphemed. Is another way that we should understand it.

The spirit of grace. For we know him who said. Vengeance is mine. I will repay. And again. The Lord. Will judge his people. It is a terrifying thing. To fall into the hands. Of the living God. You and I have everything that we need. For a life of God'sness.

So for Christians to. Come before God and say. I am the way I am because. Because I don't have enough peers. Because I don't have enough accountability. I don't have enough discipleship. I don't have right leaders. I'm not at the right church. And I am the way I am because of this.

How can a Christian ever come before God? How can a Christian ever come before God and say. I am the way I am because I don't have what I need. We have the son of God. We have the Holy Spirit. We have the church. We have 2,000 years of history.

We have the. Inerrant word of God. Given to us. On top of that. You and I have freedom. We have air conditioning. We have the internet. We have 50 different translations of the Bible. You can read the. Original manuscript. By click of a button. Simply if you just wanted to know.

If you wanted to know what. Martin Lloyd-Jones. Or J.I. Packer. For any great men that have gone before us. A click of a button. It shows up. And then for us to say. I am the way I am. Because I don't have enough. He who confesses me before men.

I will confess. He who denies me. May be evidence of unbelief. Like I told you. I was going to leave the application for next week. Okay. But I want to challenge you with this. Because. We live in a generation. Where. Our view of God. Is so influenced by our culture.

And we don't even know. We don't even know. How much of what we think of God. Is something that. That was given to us. Maybe by the previous generation. And maybe by your Sunday school teachers. When I say. Satan. What do you think of? Right. Most people. Many even in the church.

When I say Satan. Or the devil. You know. We think of a. Pitchfork. You know. Something hideous. Ugly. We imagine that if we run into the devil. In the middle of the night. We're going to be shocked. Oh my gosh. It's so hideous. And these horror movies that we've seen.

Of the devil doing. You know. Horrendous things. And that image of Satan. Has nothing to do with the Bible. Because it was. Given to us. Our idea of the devil. Was formulated. By the culture that we live in. It's from movies. A lot of times from Hollywood. If you read the scripture.

How is Satan described? Beautiful. Beautiful. If you run into Satan. Your immediate response. May not be fear. Your immediate response. May be temptation. Because he's so beautiful. But the image that we have of Satan. Not knowingly. Often times. Is because it's been imprinted in us. In our society. Now the reason why I share all of that.

Is because often times. Our view of God. Is the same. How much of. Who we think God is. Is because of the imprint. Of what you read. Or what you heard. And so when you hear something. From the pulpit. Or Bible study. Or any group. That doesn't fit. The imprint that you have.

That you think that. That is not the God that I know. How often have you heard. Non-Christians say. Or professing. Nominal Christians say. That is not the God that I know. My God would never punish. My God would never do that. Because they never read the Bible. The scripture says.

In Romans chapter 12. Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Renew of our mind for what purpose? How to view marriage. How to view raising children. Yes. All of that. But at the center of renewing our mind.

Is our view of God. Our view of God. And who he is. Must come from the scripture. That we are carefully studying. Now. Is there anybody here. Some of you may be sitting here. Thinking like. Oh I'm glad you say that. Because I know. Oh sorry. My knees just buckled.

Some of you guys may be sitting here. Thinking. I'm glad you say that. Because this guy sitting next to us. You know. He. This guy got some blinders on. You know what I mean. There's not a single person in this room. That doesn't have blinders on. Every single one of us.

Is prejudiced in one way. Some of us are more prejudiced. One way or the other. But every single one of us. Is prejudiced one way. Some of you lean heavily toward grace. Where righteously. You're kind of like. Ah you know righteousness. God Jesus covered it. And then there's some of us.

Who are heavily upon righteousness. And then grace is kind of like. You know. Like kind of. Shoveled underneath. And. Every single one of us. Is biased one way or the other. That's why we're constantly. Wrestling through scripture. To make sure. That we have a right view. Of God. And that what we are receiving.

Is the God of the Bible. The Bible tells us. In the Ten Commandments. That you should have no other gods before me. And we know what that is. When it's a false God. But the second commandment is. Do not make any graven images of me. And worship it. How often.

Do we. And in. Christian history. Where they worshipped idols. In the name of Yahweh. Have you ever had a situation. Where somebody told you. What this guy is such a jerk. And he's this way. And he's that way. And then. You had such a bad view of him. Because of what you heard.

And then when you first interact with them. You say. Oh yeah. This guy. He did this. He did this. He wouldn't open the door. And he was mean to me. And then you spend some time with them. And you realize. Huh. That's not accurate. That's not that accurate. Or the other way.

You heard. You say. Wow. This guy is so good. He's so generous. He's so kind. And then. Everything they did from a distance. Looked that way. And then you spend some time with them. And you spend a year. Or two years. Or three years with them. And then all of a sudden.

You realize like. Huh. They only saw a portion of that person. But they didn't see the totality. How much of our view of God. Is based upon. What was imprinted in us. By a sermon you heard. Or maybe some experience that you had. We have to come to the word of God.

And be continually be reformed. You know. I studied theology as an undergrad. I was a Bible major at Biola. Then afterwards I went to seminary. Got my master's. And did it again. And then I came to church. And I remember hearing Chuck Smith saying. You have to preach the Bible.

Through the Bible. Because if you're preaching topically. You can only last three years. And I was in my third year when I heard that. And I was experiencing. It's like every week. The hardest thing to do is to figure out what I'm going to preach. And then when Chuck Smith said that.

It's like. Wow. That's. That sounds good. So I started preaching through. John. Gospel of John. And then I went to Philippians. Went to Colossians. First, second, Thessalonians. And then I remember about two-thirds into preaching the Bible after many years. I realized so much of my view of God was not wrong.

But it was so incomplete. There's so many things I didn't understand about God and the gospel. It started filling in the cracks. Because the cross never really made much sense to me. If God loves me. And he's so gracious and loving and patient. What is this whole drama of crucifixion?

He's God. Just say you're forgiven. It's because I knew he was holy. But I didn't understand his vengeance. The same God who created heaven also created hell. We say, oh, he created heaven. And the way we describe hell is like God just withdrew. Right? And so he's just like.

He's kind of ignoring what's happening over there. No, he said he was created for Satan and his angels. He created that for them. And anyone who follows it. And so I began to understand that my view of God was not necessarily formed completely from scripture. And then the more I studied through scripture, I started to get to know God.

I said, wow. God never compromises his holiness or his love. God never compromises his holiness or his love. It is always together. And we can never emphasize love and exclude his wrath and his justice. And we can never emphasize justice outside of the context of his grace and love.

The reason why I say all of this is because the reason why the Pharisees blasphemed against God, even though they were looking through scripture, is because they formed an image of God that wasn't God. And so when the actual Messiah came, not only did they not recognize him, they said, that must be demonic because it is so far.

It is so far from the image of God that they have in their heads, they ended up blaspheming his name and called the son of God and the agent of Satan. Because they drifted that far away. That's why we need to get into the word. That's why we shouldn't be teaching too early.

That we shouldn't be so confident. I have all this to teach people. That's why it takes time. Just like it takes time for us to get to know people, study the word of God, know who he is. Wrestle with him. Suffer with him. Proclaim him. And come to know Christ.

The Christ of the Bible. So many people in the church reject Christ because they do not know Christ. The goal of every sermon. The goal of every sermon. Whether it is encouraging or whether it sounds harsh. Is to bring you to the God of the Bible. Bring you to the God of the Bible.

Because the only hope for mankind is the God in this Bible. Not the God of our culture. Not the God of our prejudice. Not the God who will soothe all your wounds even when you sin and unrepentant. But the God of the Bible. But the God of the Bible.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your patience. That even as we have a tendency to wander. To be entangled. I pray that you would search us and know us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us. Anything that we are thinking, Lord God. Anything that we have embraced.

Anything that we have rejected. Because of our prejudice of what we think that we know. Help us not to conform to the pattern of this world. But be renewed. Renewed in our mind, Lord God. That we may be able to discern that which is good and perfect will that you have for us.

So we ask, Lord God, that your grace may be sufficient for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise.

Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise.

Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless, with great joy.

To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. The tented soul, the golden Jesus, he came to me. He left the world, he lived and died. Took by the door, an empty grave is there to my Savior lives.

Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future. And life is worth the living, just because he lives. The Lord will never sleep.

- Sunday Service 8/24/2025

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