Sunday 11 - 24 - 19

And I have the honor and the privilege of opening God's word, and I'm excited for that opportunity. If you're going to read Scripture together, we're going to read two Scriptures on the screen and in your bulletin: Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verses 9 through 14. We're going to read that together, but then we're also going to read Mark chapter 4 verses 35 through 41. Mark chapter 4 is not in your bulletin, but we want to read together. I'm going to preserve the little voice I have. I'm not going to read, but we all are going to—when I count down, we're going to begin reading.

One, starting in Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Let's read. One, two, three.

[Mark chapter 4 read]

Before going further, let's pray.

Oh, gracious God, it is an honor and a privilege for us to corporately gather as a body with different experiences, coming from different places. But even with our diversity, Lord, there is one singular reason we are here. That is to worship you and learn of you. Lord, may this gathering not be one that's wasted. I pray that as Your Word is opened and You speak to us, Lord, not only would we learn of You, but also that we would be a people of action, that we will obey what You say to us. Strengthen us by Your Spirit. Move us to be catalysts for global impact in this world. We ask this in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. — Proverbs

If you are driving on the interstate doing 80 miles per hour and you see a policeman parked on the side, what are you going to do? Slow down. You slow down because you have respect for the authority—the policeman who is sitting on the side of the road. When we see a policeman, because of that person's authority, we adjust all that we are doing because they carry a certain authority with them.

Now we may not like the policeman's authority. We may not want their authority, and we might even rebel against their authority. But one thing is for sure: we will respect their authority. This is not unlike the kind of fear that we should show toward God.

Many of us are traveling down the highway of life going at such a rapid speed that we fail to recognize and realize that we are in the very presence of God every moment of our lives. We don't pause long enough to reflect on Him. There is no fear of Him in our hearts often. He doesn't even arrest our attention. But if this is the case, we need to cultivate the fear of God by spending time getting to know Him. And the way we get to know Him, my brothers and sisters, is in His Word. You're not going to know God apart from His Word. He is the one worthy of glory, honor, and respect.

Ecclesiastes: Life Under the Sun

Today, we're going to close out our series on the book of Ecclesiastes. As we've been going through this book, we've seen the teacher, or Kohelet, tell us some very hard things. He's talking about these rich folk and all the stuff that they've gotten. He's saying stuff like, "Man, there's a time and a season for everything—a time to be born and a time to die." There is justice in the world, and even as he brings all of this together, as he looks at it under the sun (that's what he's saying: life under the sun, or life apart from God), he says, "Man, it's all futile. A pursuit of the wind. It's useless. You're trying to grab wind?" But if we're not careful, we could be like the person that the teacher is describing, living life simply under the sun apart from God. If we do that, we too would find out that no matter what we accomplish on this earth, it's futile.

I was just talking with a friend this weekend, and he's talking about some things that he wants to accomplish. I said, "You're trying to catch a ghost. You can't grab it because you're not thinking about God and His rubric for us living." Not that God does not want to give you things or bless you, but you're trying to get those things apart from Him. You're going to find that it's futile and a pursuit of the wind.

The Editor's Summary

In this last chapter of this book, and especially in verses 9 to 14, it's interesting to note that this is not the teacher who is writing. We've been listening to the teacher and all that he's been saying, but now we have a different person. We have an editor who seems to have read his stuff, and now he wants to summarize all of the things that he sees that this teacher has written.

He says in verse 9 that the teacher was wise. If you look at verse 9, he says: "The teacher was wise." He also says that the teacher gave wise sayings. So he recognized, as he was looking at this writer, that no, this was a man of wisdom. He's wise and he gave wise sayings. And then, if you continue to read, he said that he compared his wise sayings to cattle prods or goads. Cattle prods or goads, and he also compared them to firmly embedded nails.

Now, we don't talk like this.

We don't talk about cattle prods or goads unless you own a farm and work with animals. But what are cattle prods? These were large pointed sticks that the shepherd would use to poke the animal to get them going in the right direction. The truth about cattle prods is they're painful. They hurt. Don't hit me. They hurt, but the shepherd would use this to move the animals along.

So as we've been reading Ecclesiastes, many of the things that the teacher was saying has been painful. It's been painful. I don't know about you guys, but when I read Ecclesiastes, I'm like, man, I just don't feel good. This is not—I'm sad. Is this what it is? It's hard to realize that there is injustice in the world and we continue to see it. My heart aches. God, fix it. It's happening again. It's hard to see that someone who has worked so hard to accumulate things loses it all—it's all gone. And now they become destitute. It's hard to see.

But the teacher has given us words in order to move us along, and it could be painful. As parents, if you have kids, you know that this is true. How many of you have ever said something to your child and they walked away from you? They didn't open their mouth, but in their heads, you know they're calling you everything but the child of God. You're not saying those things to hurt them, right? But you're saying painful things because you love them.

Even if you don't have kids, I know that in my house I had a mama who said a couple of things. His tongue was sharp as a sword and I'm walking around bleeding like, Mama, why you say that to me? It's painful.

Jesus gave some hard and painful words to the apostle Paul, who was Saul. Saul was recalling what Jesus said to him:

"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads." — Acts 26:14

You see, Jesus was sharing with Paul, and it was painful. He's kicking against the goads like you're trying to go against me. You're trying to box with me, doc. You're going to lose. And he lost because early on in Acts, around chapter nine, he's going to persecute, and God gave him that divine uppercut, knocked him off his horse, and he's blinded. And he says these words to him: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You're kicking against the goads."

Then the editor says that these wise sayings were like firmly embedded nails. This gives us the image of tent pegs. Tent pegs were sticks firmly planted into the ground to keep the shepherd's tent stable, to keep it from blowing away in a storm.

Therefore, when we look at these two things together—the cattle prods or the goads and the firmly embedded nails—cattle prods are used to move us in the right direction. Has God brought pain into your life to get you to move somewhere that he wants you to go? Painful. And then these tent pegs, like firmly embedded nails, provide stability and security in our life.

I know I am among a group of people who know what the storms of life feel like. There is a diversity of people in here who all have experiences, and everything has not been no crystal staircase. You know the pain, and yet God is using the pain to move you in a certain direction. But when we hold on to Jesus, we are on a firm foundation, and Jesus says those who follow his teachings or do what he says will be like a person who builds a house on the foundation. The storms are going to beat against it, but when the storm ceases, the house is there.

The text says that these sayings are given by one shepherd. And then it seems like this editor turns to his son. He's passing on truth to his son, and he says, "Son, beware or be warned, because there are many writings that were passed off as wisdom."

I'm that dude that reads about twelve books at the same time and finishes about three and a half years later. I like the rustling of pages. Now you got the Kindles and everything else. I like the rust. I like the smell of that stuff, especially those old vintage books. So I'll go to a bookstore, and it's everything in the bookstore, and everything is passed off as wisdom. Like, you need this for your best life now. You need this to get all the things you want to get ahead.

But the editor says to his son, "Son, beware of all of these things that are written that are being passed off as wisdom. Don't go beyond anything beyond the sayings that God has provided. God has given you everything you need."

You see, we have God's word, my brothers and sisters.

In Second Peter chapter one, verse three, scripture says this:

His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. — 2 Peter 1:3

We have every single thing we need in order to live in a way that pleases God in his word. I don't need to go pick up a new self-help book, six ways to fill in the blank. Those things may be good, and they may be helpful up to a point. But as it relates to me living in the face of God—which I do at every moment—he's given me his word.

Paul tells Timothy that his word is God-breathed and is profitable, and then the preacher sums up this book in verse 13. And in all this, he says, when all is said and done, when everything is over, the conclusion of the matter is this:

Fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. — Ecclesiastes 12:12-13

He focuses on this dual command of fearing God and obeying him. And what's the reason? Why do we do this? Verse 14:

God will bring every act into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil. — Ecclesiastes 12:14

I have really been pondering and thinking deeply on this. When I was younger, I thought that maybe I said a bad word or I did something that, because another person didn't see me, then I got off scot-free. But then Jesus—well, the preacher here debunks that—and then Jesus says, "Man, you know what? God is gonna bring and judge every single idle word you speak. Every thought, every deed is gonna be under his scrutiny. Every act."

And because he sees me, because he sees you, then the call is to fear God and obey his commands.

Connecting Ecclesiastes and Mark

As we look at this book, Ecclesiastes chapter 12, we're connecting it in Mark chapter four, verses 35 to 41. And you're like, what do they have to do with each other? I pray by the Spirit of God that we're to connect these. The theme I believe that we can extract in both of these sections of scripture is this: fear God, and we fear God by demonstrating this through keeping his commands.

This is clear from all the scripture. You see, Jesus came to earth because we got a problem. We as humans have a problem. What is this problem? We don't fear God, and we sure don't want to obey his commands. We are people that think we're autonomous. "I wanna do what I wanna do, when I wanna do it, and how I want to do it."

If I were to ask us in here, "You know, we good Christians, do you fear God?" we would resoundingly and emphatically say, "Yes, I fear God." And I expect that. But what about the obedience part? "Oh, see, Russell, you're getting legalistic now. You're getting legalistic. We live in an age of grace now. We're not under the law."

I know that when it comes to obedience, Second Corinthians tells us:

He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. — 2 Corinthians 5:21

I know that the life of Jesus has been imputed to you so that even in your sinful state, God sees you—he not only sees you, he sees his Son. And because he sees his Son, you are accepted. I know that. But I think we want to use that as a way to live in a licentious way, like, "I know, I have the life of Jesus, so let me do what I wanna do." That sniffs of Gnosticism to me—this thought that what I do in this body does not matter. But it does matter.

So here's the thing: I don't obey to receive God's favor. No, no, no. Jesus got that for me. When he hung on that wood, he earned favor for me. But now that I am rescued, I am now free to obey. I don't obey from a place of trying to earn. I obey because he's good. He's good. Like, you would die on that wood, you would hang on that cross for me. I was separated from you. I was doomed. I was living my own way. I was destroying myself. But then you gave me eyes to see the beauty of who you are, and you called me your son. Oh, I'm all in. "Lord, lead me. What do you want me to do?" So much so that my wife and I moved across states. We're here trying to start something new. God, all our chips are in. But I'm doing it not to earn your favor. I'm doing it because of what you have done in my life.

Approaching a Familiar Text

As we look at Mark chapter four, verses 35 through 41, we have a familiar story. And oftentimes, when we come across familiar texts, we tend to just kind of think, "I read that. I know that." But I hope we can sit in a little bit and extract and glean some things that God would open our eyes to his truth.

So we have Jesus with his disciples, and they are going to the other side of the sea. But they, a storm arises when they're on the sea. As we look at these things, the first thing I want us to see is that we are to fear God and not all circumstances. God and not all circumstances. In Mark chapter four verses 37-38.

Secondly, I want us to see that God gives us peace when life is difficult. Mark chapter four verse 39. And in all of this, I pray that you join me. But if you don't join me, I might holler myself on the second point because I need this truth that God will give me peace when life is hard.

And the last thing I want us to see is that we display our fear of God by our actions and we do this by faith.

Fear God and Not All Circumstances

So let's look at the first point: that we fear God and not all circumstances. I'll read verses 37-38 again of Mark chapter four.

A great windstorm arose and the waves were breaking over the boat so that the boat was already being swamped. He was in the stern sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care that we are going to die?" — Mark 4:37-38

In the beginning of Mark chapter four, the text tells us that Jesus is teaching a crowd of people, but he is teaching them in a boat. He's bagging up in a boat and he's teaching them. He's teaching all day. In the evening, he says to them, "Yo, fellas, we need to go to the other side of the sea." And this sea is the Sea of Galilee.

Now, when we look at the life of Jesus, we see that he came to a broken world. This world in which we live, my brothers and sisters, is a fractured world. Jesus comes to work among broken people, and when we read the stories of Jesus, right? There are so many great stories. Man, think about it. Jesus walking on water. That's gangster. You know what I mean? Just walking on water. That's beast mode. That's next level. Like, you mess around and go into a tomb and a man has been dead four days and you just holler out, "Lazarus, come forth," and my man comes out. I mean, we just read stories like that and we're like, "Oh, that's good." Right? And it doesn't matter. We can have different stories that we know deeply and we can look at the life of Jesus and what he does as disconnected stories. Like, "Oh, you remember that story, that story." But no, when we come to look at Jesus, we need to see all of this stuff as connected. His work is a part of a much greater story, a meta-narrative. And what is this meta-narrative? A story of a God who created the universe and entrusted it to human partners to take care of it. God uses human partners. He uses us in his plan of redemption.

So Jesus tells the disciples in verse 35, "Let's cross over to the other side of the sea." Now, what's on the other side of the sea? Mark five tells us that it's an area called the Garasenes, and in this area, Jesus is going to encounter a demon-possessed man. Now, pause. We are not in the first century. We were not there with Jesus, but what would the disciples have known about this area? They would have known that this area is primarily full of non-Jews. They also saw this area as a place of demons. So maybe they said like, "Jesus, we're going to the outside? Like, Jesus, would you? Why we going over there again? Jesus, you know there's demons over there."

But not only that—going to a place of demons—but the text says that they would have to go by boat. They had to go on the sea. How did the Jews view big bodies of water? They viewed it as chaos and the abyss, and they believed it was run by demons. Here's a picture: Jesus, you wanna go to a place of demons over a body of water that's controlled by demons? We came here. What are we gonna do?

So they're in the boat and they go to the other side, and low and behold, a violent storm arises, beating the boat up. But the text says that Jesus was asleep on a cushion in the stern. That's next level. That's next level. Like, storm—I see the boat just, I mean, the disciples are barely hanging on, they're going over—Jesus probably getting some good z's. But what does this tell me about Jesus though? He's asleep. Remember, Mark chapter four says that he was teaching all day. He was tired. It points to his full humanity. His full humanity. Don't divorce who Jesus is. Don't compartmentalize him. Yes, he's God, but he's also human. He went to sleep.

And so you know what the disciples did? They go to Jesus and they wake him up and they say, "Teacher, don't you care that we are going to die?" They were so afraid. It's almost like a rebuke in this. Like, "You're the one protecting us, Jesus. You don't care that we're about to die?"

See, when we experience a crisis in our lives, it often brings fear—deep fear. We're afraid because we can't fix our problems. And when problems arise in our lives, it shows us that we are fallible, that we don't have all power.

But in the midst of our difficulties, God tells us not to fear our circumstances but to fear him. Not only that, I love the fact that we could be afraid and take all of our fears to him instead of holding onto these fears in isolation and just letting that stuff brew in our heads.

I think we have a good story of this in the Thirteenth Psalm, and I want to read the whole Psalm to us because feel what the Psalm is—David is writing. He says:

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long will I store up each concern within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will the enemy dominate me? Consider me and answer, Lord my God. Restore brightness to my eyes. Otherwise, I will sleep in death. My enemies will say I have triumphed over him, and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken. — Psalm 13

Notice how he closes his prayer. Now he just vented, then he says:

But I have trusted in your faithful love. My heart will rejoice in your deliverance. I will sing to the Lord because he has treated me generously.

I love this because I think we are a lot like David and the disciples. Things happen in our lives that seem cataclysmic and we freak out. But we got a God whose shoulders are strong. He can take all of that if we bring it to him.

We tend to freak out because a lot of times the problems just seem to linger and linger, and the pain is unbearable. So again, we say, "Lord, how long?" But if you are experiencing difficulty, even if you may not be in a difficult space right now, you will be. I want to encourage each of us with these words this morning: when God delays, he always delays for a greater purpose. When the tragedies come, when the hardships come, he may not remove it right then, and it seems like he is late. He has a better purpose in mind. He is doing something. Therefore, we fear him in all circumstances. He is with us in the hard times.

A Father's Comfort

For those of us who have kids, you know, they're young and when they're born, you know, they sleep in a bassinet or in a crib, but all they want to sleep with us. But then they come upon a time, you're getting too big, doc, sister, you gotta sleep in your own bed. And we send them out to their bed and it never fails. And maybe it's a storm, a lightning storm outside, or something happens or they have a nightmare and they get freaked out. They freak out, right? And then all of a sudden, I mean, you've been good. I mean, you may be calling hogs. Don't know what it is, but you're sleeping soundly and all of a sudden, you feel these little feet up against you and you wonder like, hold up, what? Who is that? Anybody know what I'm talking about?

And then you realize and your child is there and you just see them frightened. They're just so afraid. And then even with all of your sleepiness and tiredness, you have enough energy to put your arms around them and say, "Baby, it's okay. It's gonna be alright." And as you are affirming them and comforting them, then you realize that they go soundly to sleep.

So I believe this is what our heavenly Father does when we fear. I believe in his word. He comes close to us and he wraps his arms around us and as we let the word wash over us, we can maybe hear from his word that trust me. I got this. Don't worry. We don't have to fear because he is greater. But often, man, when we are fearful or experiencing anxiety, it's hard to focus on God. It's very hard to focus on God because what's in front of us seems so insurmountable.

The Scratched Record

Now, I need to talk to some folks who can go with me. Who remembers those old record players? I'm talking about the one with the needle and that to make sure it won't stick, you'll put a penny on top of it. I ain't got nobody with me this morning. You know those records? I know we don't even—oh, we got some people in the back. We're in the back. So now we got everything from iPods and iTunes. But I remember back. You had to get that vinyl, and you put that needle on there and it just starts cracking. You know, some good stuff happening. But if your record is scratched or is cracked, what happens? If you still play it, it plays the same tune over and over and over again. It does not go through the song. It just plays the same thing and often when we go through hardships, we feel like our record is cracked and we are playing and it's the same thing. It's just on repeat.

But y'all, we have the promises of God. We have his promises. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us. We have a high priest that is seated right now at the right hand of the Father making intercession for you and me. I'm comforted because Jesus is praying for me. Do you think about that? He is praying for you right now.

We can focus on him and take our fears to him and when we do that, I believe our fears take a backseat because the one who is greater than our fears is before us and we can rest in him.

God is not all circumstances. Secondly, God gives us peace when life is hard. Verse 39 says this:

He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Silence, be still." The wind ceased and there was a great calm.

You see, Jesus is the stiller of storms. He's not just the stiller of storms on the Sea of Galilee. He is the stiller of storms in your life and in my life. What I love is that Jesus did not abandon the disciples in the storm. He did not get out of the boat with them. He was with them. He commanded nature and nature obeyed. Why? Because his word is authoritative.

In the book of Genesis, God's word says this in chapter one, verses two and three:

Now, the earth was formless and empty. Darkness covered the surface of the watery depths and the spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then, God said, "Let there be light" and there was light.

I love it. God commanded light that didn't exist to show up and it did, dispelling darkness. Paul would say in Colossians that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. All things were created by him and he holds all things together. Therefore, the same God who told light to show up and it showed up, the same God who told the storm to stop and it stopped, is the same God speaking to the issues in your life and he is in control of them. We can bank on that.

See, often it's difficult for us to see that God is in control. It's difficult because life can seem so chaotic and painful. We know that life is not perfect, but we just want God to intervene. And I believe he intervenes. I believe there are times when God, when we are going through some hard difficulties, he would intervene in such a way that he removes even the residue or the stench of that issue and give you respite and peace. I believe God does that, but I also believe this: instead of removing the issue, he will simply be with us in it.

We have a wonderful story in the book of Daniel that I love. In Daniel, there were these three young men. Nebuchadnezzar, who was the king of Babylon, decided to erect an image and you had to bow to this image. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, "We're not bowing. Even if it means my death, I will not bow." They determined to worship God, the creator of heaven and earth. And then something amazing happened. In Daniel chapter three, starting at verse 24, it says this:

Then king Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in alarm. He said to his advisers, "Didn't we throw three men bound into the fire?" His adviser said, "Yes, of course, your majesty." They replied to the king. He exclaimed, "Look, I see four men not tied, walking around in the fire unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

See, the three Hebrew men were protected in the fire by God. Why? Because he was with them. Jesus was with the disciples in the boat and he stopped the storm from harming them. In both instances, the presence of God is the factor. The presence of God is the factor. That's true for us, y'all. Even when life gets chaotic, turmoil happens, the worst tragedy you can think about happens—he is with us. He brings peace when there is difficulty. It doesn't mean that we won't cry, but his presence makes all of the difference. He promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us.

I often think about this truth that God does not move away from me in tragedy. He moves close. However, these two men were commissioned to paint a painting of peace. The first man painted a sunset on some calm water in a nice boat. You could look at the picture and think, "Man, I want to take a nap right now." The serenity of it, right? But the second guy did something different. He painted a storm—chaotic, water crashing against the rocks, waves everywhere. It was just a scary scene. But at the bottom of the picture, there were two rocks and a bird on those rocks singing. The bird was singing in the midst of a storm. Y'all, that's peace. That is peace.

See, peace is where God's calm and tranquility overrule your concerns. When I think about this, I think about all of those people who have gone before me, who have experienced deep and great tragedy. The pain was there, but yet their perspective amazes me. I'm thinking right now about the Emanuel Nine—the nine people who were killed while going to Bible study in Charleston, South Carolina a few years ago. People who were going to just worship God, to study God's word. Life was snuffed out, but it was their family members that amazed me. Not all of them, because one guy said, "I can't forgive. He's hurting." But most of them, you would read that they just forgave. I'm like, "How in the world are you doing this?"

And they always say, in essence, it's God and his peace who has moved close, and they could even ask for forgiveness. Ask that God would forgive this young man. But I'm thinking about that. It's crazy, but you can still have a sense of some togetherness, not because you got it together, but because of God and his work in your life.

You see, pain has a ministry. Pain has a ministry. And this pain may teach us to understand that when life is hard, Jesus is near. And when he is near, he brings peace because he is the prince of peace. That in a little while, as Paul says, these are light momentary afflictions. No matter how hard it is, from God's perspective, these are light and he will remove them as his kingdom comes in its fullness, wiping every tear away. No more pain. He's gonna make all things new.

Displaying Fear of God Through Action

And finally, we display our fear of God by our actions. Verse 36 simply says this:

So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat and other boats were with him.

Now, after Jesus was finished teaching, again, he said to the disciples, "Let's go to the other side of the sea." Now, if we knew what the disciples knew or thinking what they thought, if Jesus then says to us, "Look, we're going to go to a place that's evil and we go over sea that could get crazy at any moment. Who's in?" We'd be like, "We see you, Jesus. I'll catch you on the rebound, right?" Because we don't want that action. But for the disciples, it was different because they emptied their pockets. They sold their businesses. They were all in. Jesus, wherever you're going, I'm going.

See, they had a job to do in following Jesus. They had a job to do.

Number one, they wanted to memorize his words. See, I love this because we only have one place in scripture where Jesus wrote, and we don't even know what he wrote because he wrote in sand. But Jesus didn't go around with journals saying, "Y'all need to study this right here." He didn't print off papers and say, "Look, here is your curriculum. Study this." No. He talked and the disciples were with him. Some people would say they were in his dust—the dust of his feet were all over him. They followed him so much and paid such attention to his words and when the Holy Spirit came, they were able to recall the very words of Jesus.

They wanted to know how he kept the commands of God and how he interpreted scripture. I look at it in Matthew chapter five with the Beatitudes. Jesus often says this:

You have heard that it was said... but I say...

So they learned how Jesus was interpreting the text.

They wanted to imitate him. See, this is interesting. Some theologians would say they wanted to be so much like Jesus that if Jesus was a soul brother and walked with a limp, that they too would have walked with a limp because they wanted to be so much of what he is.

And then they would go and make disciples. And so, no matter what would take place, there was no turning back for them. In one situation, Jesus was given some hard sayings in the book of John, and the text says that a whole bunch of people left. And then in John chapter six, verse 67, Jesus says:

You don't wanna go away too, do you?

Peter said:

Lord, to whom are we gonna go? You have the words of life. We have come to believe and know that you are the holy one of God.

Again, they were all in. Even in their mess ups and failures, these were men who feared God. They messed up. They were human, but they feared him.

When we read the Old Testament, we see that God gave commands to his people: "Thou shalt not" or whatever it is. But you know what? If you read the commands, these were not legalistic things. They were to obey the commands by faith. Because think about it: What did God do to rest? What did the nation of Israel do for God to deliver them? They were in bondage. What did they do? Did they fast four times a week for sixteen hours a day? Did they pray long prayers? All they did was cry out, "We need help." God of his own volition stepped in and he rescued them. Salvation comes from God and God alone. He brought them out and he says, "Now, obey me." It's the same with you and I. The people, the Jews were saved by faith. You and I are saved by faith and now we are free to obey him by faith.

Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. — Hebrews 11:1

If God worked in the life of Abraham, if he worked in the life of Moses, if he worked in the life of David, if he sent the Lord Jesus to live the life that you and I should have lived, and he died the death that you and I deserved, and he raised him from the dead, if he fulfilled his promises to them, he is gonna fulfill his promises for us. He is going to do it, and it's all because of Jesus.

But who is Jesus?

And it's here that I'm remembering the words of a preacher who is now with the Lord, named S.M. Lockridge, and I say these words to you: Who is he? He is the king of the Jews. He is the king of Israel. He is the king of righteousness. He is enduringly strong. He is a sinner's savior. He is awesome. He is unique. He supplies strength for the weak. He is available for the tempted and the tired. He strengthens and sustains. You can't live without him and you cannot outlive him. That's why we fear and obey him. That's why we remember Jesus. That's why we come each day, each Sunday, and we partake of this family meal.

Communion

So, with that, we're going to transition our attention to this great family meal. Let's go through the liturgy that's in the text and in your worship guide as we prepare to partake of communion.

In the past, God had miraculously fed his people with manna from heaven. Jesus declared:

I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise them up at the last day. — John 6

On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said:

Take, eat. This is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

Next, he took the cup, and he says:

Drink all of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for many for the remission of sins, for the forgiveness of sins.

Let's