chapters in our sequential exposition of the book of Ephesians. And so we want to take just a week or so to do some stand-alone expositions upon things that really matter. This morning I have a message upon the importance of the midweek service. And this is something that is pastorally important. So has the midweek service dipped? No, not really. It's been increasing actually. But let me just say this, that it is absolutely critical, and I'm going to pull from the text some truths this morning that I think is going to help us to think biblically about our midweek. And I'm going to be making five observations about the midweek service. And again, this is a pastorally informed message. It's critical in the life of a church striving to be healthy. The church is the people, not the building. I mean, the church is you and I. It's those that belong to Christ by the miracle of regeneration. And so we want to be faithful. We want to see all members of the Lord's church faithful and glorifying Him and putting Him first in their lives, meaning preeminent, that He would be preeminent in all things. And so, again, Hebrews chapter 10, y'all probably familiar with verse 24 and 25. And let's look at them this morning and read it, and then we'll just jump headlong into the text. A quick thank you to Joshua and Raquel for their faithful service. We met this morning early, probably before most of you were out of bed, and we're praying for you this morning. And I was here early and praying for you and your family and your children. and many of your grandchildren to come to know Christ in a saving way. And so I create, by the way, I take great delight to get the opportunity to pray for you and your kids and your grandkids. It's one of the great joys of ministry, it's prayer. And it doesn't hurt anything when Joseph and Sarah come in and their three kids jumped in my lap this morning and I got the love on them in my office and that was very enjoyable. Starting at verse 24, Well, let's just back up to verse 19, just for context sake. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He has inaugurated for us through the veil that is His flesh. And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confidence of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works or good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as the habit of some is, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. So let's ask this question. Is the Wednesday night service that big of a deal? Is it necessary? Is it biblical? What about the question, should faithful Christians like you and me attend the midweek service regularly? And I mentioned already, this is an important question, pastoral speaking, but let's ask the question, what is the history behind the midweek service? To be precise, it's really not known, it's been lost in history, but we do know that faithful Protestants have upheld a midweek worship service for nearly 150 years at least. Some trace the midweek service back to the times of slavery. in the United States, a dark period in our history, but it was a time when the slaves would come together in the midweek for encouragement and prayer. Others will attribute it to D.L. Moody, the great preacher in the 1800s who would every midweek hold noonday prayer meetings for revival. He did that on Wednesday. Wednesday night services most probably started out as a simple prayer meeting, but over time they have gradually taken on more of a corporate worship. But we asked the question this morning, does the Bible mandate it? Does the Bible require it? And I think that is a very insightful and good question. And to answer it, I think the Bible does indeed encourage it, but nowhere do I find in Scripture that it is demanded. One author wrote upon the demise of the midweek service because we've seen a great lapse over the last 20 years, but this author wrote, could it be this is a reflection on the spiritual temperature of this generation? He goes on to say at the end of this little article, it could be that, as persecution increases and nominal Christianity falls out of favor, the true church will once again see the need for and more frequent meetings in order to remain strong in the face of opposition. I thought that was an interesting statement and accurate. The text I read, especially verse 24 and 25, give to us some good reasons why we uphold our midweek services. The Hebrew writer of the book of Hebrews is unfolding here for the Christians that were Jewish people that had come to faith in Christ. He is opening up and unpacking for them this new and living way that was inaugurated by the death of Jesus Christ. He faithfully speaks of the grace of drawing near to God. He speaks of holding fast of the confession of faith without wavering. And then he begins to speak about the importance of stimulating one another to love and good deeds. A better word would be provoking. nudging one another to love and good deeds. And then he says in verse 25 that all of this is accomplished by the faithful attendance of the assembly of the redeemed people of God, which is the local church. And I want you to note that the assembly, according to the author here, is exhorted to meet all the more as we see the day drawing near. And by that, he means that times will become more and more turbulent as the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is becoming closer and closer. And that we as God's people need to think clearly and precisely about this, that the confession of our hope is strengthened in and through the faithful assembling of God's people together in holy worship. mind you, the original audience that received this letter was facing some pretty stark opposition. These were Jewish people that had become Christians and that they were now the bane of the Jewish community because of the commitment they had put on display toward the Lord Jesus Christ. They were exhorted by the writer they were not to go back and to practice the empty shadows and types that were given under the old administration, namely the sacrificial system, And the Hebrew writer says that these were mere copies of the realities that are fulfilled or consummated in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see that clearly in Hebrews 9, verses 23 and 24. But what I want to make mention of is of the cultural pressure upon these people to go back to the Hebrew traditions. Sadly, many of them did go back. Many of them did return. We see that in Hebrew 6 and again in Hebrew 10 where there's some very striking and stark language. But it's hard for us, 2,000 years or more removed from this situation, to feel the heat and to experience the hardship that these first century Jewish Christians were experiencing on a day-to-day basis. But we see that the author is exhorting the people that they are to be found faithful in the assembly of the people of God, to where their habitual attendance, to where their commitment to the local church would strengthen their unwavering commitment in the face of the pressures that they were dealing with on a day-in and day-out basis. In other words, the frequency of their attendance in the assembly of God's redeemed people where the Word of God is being preached would fuel these Christians that are under persecution to triumph in the midst of real hardship and real temptation. And while there is no explicit command for a midweek service, there is certainly strong evidence for it in the Bible, especially in Hebrews 10, 24, and 25. And I want us this morning, for a little bit anyway, to think about the midweek service biblically because it's my conviction that the Bible does indeed point us toward it and I want you to see it. as a pastor, as a shepherd, I want you to come and to be part and to be strengthened, to be filled with the word of truth, to be mobilized to go back out into a world that is dark and sinful and to shine the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to have this conviction that it's biblical for me to be faithful, to go to church, and to hear the word of God whenever I have opportunity. I'm convinced. that those who habitually neglect the midweek service are more likely to crumble under pressure, the pressures that we face day to day as Christians than those that are faithful week in and week out hearing the Word of the Lord. I'm convinced that those who make a habit of missing the midweek are in some way weakened in their sanctification. They are more easily tripped up by the deception of the evil one. So this morning, I want to unpack five supportive truths about the midweek service, and I pray that it will help each one of us realign with a Bible-driven lifestyle. The first of them is this, that the midweek service is important because hunger and thirst, as Christians, hunger and thirst should desire it. Our hunger and thirst should desire it. Hunger and thirst, Grace Life, for the truth of God is the evidence of a heart that's been enthroned by Christ. And that the crux of the midweek service is the Word of God being preached. That's the apex of what we do on Wednesday nights. We have to ask the question, why do we as Christians gather together on the midweek service? Because our hearts are hungry for what we get when we come here. In the midweek service we have the Word of God faithfully opened up and preached, whether it be Pastor Tommy or Pastor Jason or myself or one of the men of the church. We have several of our deacons that preach and other of our men faithfully preach the Word of God. We come together and Brother Joshua leads us and Sister Raquel in hymns of the faith and the Psalms out of the Bible. and we sing them with passion and biblical words to the glory of God, and then the fellowship of God's redeemed people strengthens us, it enriches us, it nurtures us. We see this throughout history that faithful Christian people earnestly desire every God-given grace. We find in Psalm 92, verses 12 through 14, the psalmist singing, the righteous man will flourish like a palm tree. Listen to this. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon, planted in the house of Yahweh. They will flourish in the courts of God. They will still yield fruit in old age. They will be rich and fresh. Where? In the house of the Lord. Where? In the courts of our God. Listen, a thirsty man will drink whenever the opportunity arises, won't he? A hungry man will eat whenever the food is set down at the table. He's not forced to eat. A thirsty man is not forced to drink. He gladly eats and he gladly drinks to satisfy the longings, the desires. Listen, God's people, by regeneration, hunger and thirst for the truth of God. We have to ask, are we thirsty for what God provides for us? Are we hungry for the truth of God? Are we hungry for the fellowship of God's redeemed people? Jesus said in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, 6, Listen, we attend the midweek because we hunger and thirst for what is given. And I'm making the biblical argument that the midweek service is important to Christians because we hunger and thirst for what we find here. That we want to be with the people of God. We want to sing the songs about God. We want to hear the word exegeted about God. And we are thirsty and there's nothing in this life There's no goods that we can receive from mortal man. There's nothing that can replace what God gives to us as a means of grace in the meeting place when we come together on the midweek service. Television cannot satisfy the thirst of the Holy Spirit that creates on the inside of us, even physical rest. Although the Lord tells us that he grants his beloved people rest, physical rest cannot do for you what the Word of God can do for you in a miraculous way when we come together and we hear the Word of the Lord proclaimed and sing the songs of Zion. Friends cannot. Family cannot. There's nothing. Hobbies, my friend, they are eternally inferior. They're eternally insignificant when we compare them to the means of grace, which is the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the singing of the glorious hymns of the faith, and the Psalms that we find in the Psalter in our Bibles, and the fellowship with God's redeemed people, which we have a true kinship with because we all bear the the marks of Jesus Christ, and we all have the commonality of the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ. So the treasure of our hearts as Christians is to be with the church when they gather because the Lord Jesus Christ is here with us as we gather together in corporate worship. Psalm 27, verse 4 through 6, you might just take a mental note of this. For in the day of calamity, he will conceal me in his shelter. In the secret place of his tent, he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock, and now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with loud shouts of joy. I will sing, and I will sing praises to Yahweh." You thought, well, Pastor, you get paid to go down there. Listen, you know, most of you all don't know this, I was pastoring this church for years upon years, decades before this ministry ever gave me a red cent. I worked a physical job 40 to 60 to 70 hours a week to support my family so I could preach the gospel and not be a burden to the church. I came to church not because I had to but because I was refreshed there. I came to hear the word of the Lord because I was built up whenever I went that I met with the people of God and I got to go and to spend time with people that I had a common bond with by the by the blood of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I don't have to be here. We come on the midweek because we thirst for what we find here. We hunger for what God in his grace provides for us here. And as that article I read earlier, that our continual absence wherever the word of the Lord is being poured forth like a river, it could be a sign of a spiritual temperature problem. We still friends? I still love you. It could be a lack of hunger and thirst, couldn't it? And let's just be honest. It could be a preoccupation with things in this present world that are trite, the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches creep in and choke out the Word and it becomes unfruitful. Listen, lesser desires can rise up in our lives. Lesser desires can rise up in the experience of fallen sinners. Listen, we're Christians, I get that. But lesser desires can conquer greater ones. What are you feeding, right? What are you feeding? So brothers and sisters, stay thirsty. Amen. Second of all, our midweek service is important because our weakness necessitates it. Our weakness necessitates it. You know, the Bible paints a very vivid picture about us as God's people. It tells us clearly again and again from cover to cover that we're weak and dependent even though we are Christians. Weak. We simply need to garner strength, we need to gain strength whenever the opportunity arises. We need to drink from the fountain whenever the fountain's flowing. Think in terms about the weakness of man, David was a king after God's own heart. He was the godly king of Israel. But you remember back in the great narrative that he wasn't in battle as he ought to have been, and there he found himself in a disengaged state, and there his weakness overthrew his strength. Remember the story? with David and Bathsheba and that he sinned against God and he sinned against man, that he took a woman that was not his wife and had her husband murdered so that he might have what did not belong to him. And by the way, 2 Samuel 12, verse 10 says that the consequences of that sin went with David. Listen, the stink of it remained on him for the rest of his life. The point is this, that David's weakness was deeper and more dire than he ever imagined that it was. And that's the argument that our text is making in Hebrews chapter 10. If you will remember, these Hebrew Christians were embattled in that they needed that confession of hope to be strengthened. I'm sure that their hands were tottering down because of difficulty and persecution. They needed their wavering to be stabilized because they were teetering on the edge. They needed to be stimulated to love and good deeds because they were lacking in that way as well. Why is this? Because they had indwelling weakness. Just like I do. Just like I do. Just like Pastor Tommy does. Just like Pastor Jason does. There's no such thing as a great man of God. We're only weak, pitiful men of a great God. and that there is native weakness on the inside of us. And the prescription for this weakness is found in verse 25, not forsaking our own assembling together. Paul would make an argument similarly in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 speaking about the folly of ancient Israel when they were delivered out of bondage from Egypt's cruel tyranny and that God in the wilderness had made glorious and beautiful provision for them. He had demonstrated His mighty power and that He split the Red Sea. They had miraculously by the right hand of God passed through, they were eating and drinking as God had personally fed them from his own hand, but then it goes on to tell us that they rebelled against God. They were unthankful to God, turning to sexual immorality and idolatry. That's a great thank you, isn't it? The Bible tells us that God sent serpents to discipline them. If that's the discipline of the Lord, I'm going to do better, right? But then God, in His mercy, provided a remedy in the brazen serpent. But then here's the point. God goes on to say that these things are preserved in Scripture to be an example for us, upon whom the ends of the world have fallen. And then in 1 Corinthians 10, 12, Paul says, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. In other words, the scripture, the Holy Spirit of God is saying, you're not all that and then a cheese sandwich. That you're natively weak. I want you to think with me about the myriads of seemingly strong men that have succumbed to weakness. And I'm going to use some Old Testament examples. Samson was overcome by a woman. Why? He was weak. David was overcome by a woman. Why? He was weak. Solomon was overcome by a lot of women. Why? He was weak. Noah was overcome by wine. Why? He was weak. I don't remember where I was at yesterday. I was somewhere. I don't even, I'm tired. I can't remember. I was somewhere and someone had a shirt on and said, be like Noah. I'm like, no, don't be like Noah. Be like Christ. Jesus exhorted His disciples in John 15, 5 to abide or to remain or to continue with Him. That is, in other words, you could say it this way, be dependent upon Him. And why would He teach them that? Because He knew what they would not know He knew what they were blinded to, that they were weak and they were vulnerable. They're simply sheep and so are we. And that's the nature of sheep. Sheep are weak animals. They're prone to wander into dangerous territory. They need the strength of a shepherd, Psalm 23 and John chapter 10. And Jesus, because of this, tells His disciples in John 15, 5, apart from me, you can do nothing. We're familiar, as Jesus is nearing the cross, that Peter makes this bold but yet very wrong self-assessment. Jesus says, I'm going to die, I'm going to go to a place you cannot come. The disciples are all going to be scattered, He tells them in Matthew 26, 29, that Peter in his Ignorance, but yet bold ignorance, pipes up and says, even though all may fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And it says, and all the disciples said the same thing. And we know the outcome of that story, don't we? Peter, not long after that, and the rooster barely gets the third crow out, and he has denied the Lord three different times. And think about this. In John chapter 21, Jesus restores him, recommissions him to apostolic ministry, and he tells him this in a three-fold disclosure. Feed my sheep. tend my sheep, and shepherd my sheep." Why would Jesus tell him that if the sheep were not so vulnerable, and the sheep were not so weak, and the sheep were not so ignorant? The sheep are ignorant. The sheep are weak. The sheep don't, they need a strong shepherd to tend them, to shepherd them, and to lead them. That's just the nature of being a sheep. And my argument is that we need to be here every time the doors are open, when the Word of God, which strengthens us in the inward man, which builds us up in the faith, that provokes us to love and good deeds, because we are natively weak and we can't even realize how weak we are. You and I are vulnerable. In the midweek service, we put on strength. The Word of the Lord is preached as the means of God's grace to fortify or strengthen His people. Our fellowship is designed to build us up or to strengthen us. We need to be encouraged or our courage being strengthened. That's what it means to be encouraged, that your courage would be strengthened. You find that in verse 25 too, to fortify our courage. Listen, those that are aware of their weakness seek out the very means that strengthens them. A man that is weak and vulnerable will go to the gym and lift weights. He will do what it takes to put on strength." And the exhortation here is that we're to meet all the more as we see the day drawing near. That means the day of Jesus' second coming is a day that's preceded by darkness, a time in which the elect, if it even would be possible, would be deceived. And the season that precedes the second advent of Jesus Christ, clearly from the Scriptures, is going to be an extraordinarily difficult season. and the admonition that we have from the Holy Spirit of God, who is the true author of scripture, is that we must meet more often and be strengthened and to put on courage. Third, the midweek service is important because our sanctification benefits from it. That's important, and here's why it's important. The greatest desire of our Lord Jesus Christ is to have a bride that's readied for the consummation. He came from heaven to earth to win a bride, to lay his life down as a ransom payment. And then he's coming back again for a bride that is pure and holy, Ephesians chapter five tells us. He's coming for a church that's arrayed in white apparel, which is indicative of purity. Paul calls the church a chaste virgin, and Paul, as you know, was burdened for the Corinthians that they too might be presented to Christ as a chaste virgin. And by the way, I will say as an undershepherd, not an apostle, but just a simple pastor, that it is a great burden of mine and it is a great repetitious prayer of mine that Grace Life Church would be a holy and pure bride that is fitted for the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my prayer for you. The marriage supper of the Lamb, by the way, which is that great moment, that climactic point of human history to where the Lord is joined together with His bride, it tells us that will occur. Revelation 19, 7 says that it will occur whenever the bride has made herself ready. Sanctification, therefore, is the process that is inaugurated at the moment of justification And it's consummate at the moment of glorification. It spans the entirety of the Christian life. And it's the ever and always putting off of the old man and putting on of the new man. It's the process by which we are conformed to Christ. It's the renewing of the mind. It's the, by faith, applying the Word of God in our life and doing the will of God. It's making, listen, here it is in the utmost sense. It is the making of ourselves ready for a consummation. It's getting ready for the wedding day. Let me give you a few examples, Romans 13, 14, Paul says, we put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. Verse 12 says, we put on the armor of light and lay aside the deeds of darkness. This is sanctification, this is getting ready, this is practical holiness. Ephesians 4, 24, we put on the new man which is in the likeness of God created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 6-11 says we put on the full armor of God that we might be able to stand firm. Colossians 3-10 says we put on love. Verse 12 of Colossians 3 says we put on a heart of compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience. So listen, look at me, sanctification is a result of the washing of the Word of God. So I don't know about that, Pastor. Read Ephesians 5-26, it says that word for word. Jesus told his disciples in John 15 three, ye are clean because of the words that I have spake unto you. Sanctification is by the truth, Jesus prays in that great high priestly prayer. Sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth, right? Sanctification occurs primarily when we proactively listen to the word of God and apply it in our lives by faith. It's the primary means of God's divine grace that He has given to us for our sanctification or our transformation. And by the way, this is not going to fall in your lap. You've got to go after it. The Word of God tells us in Hebrews 12, 14, pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord. pursue sanctification. That means that you need to get busy and think seriously and think biblically about conforming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, you'll never be sanctified by having a longevity in the faith. You're not sanctified just because you've been saved 50 or 60 years. You're conforming to Christ, so your sanctification doesn't occur on autopilot, it's not on cruise control. There's got to be purposeful intention. It says in Revelation 19, 7, the bride has made herself ready. I went to the Greek text, like, well, there must be something misquoted there. What did it say in the Greek text? Well, I'll tell you clearly, the Greek text says that the bride has made herself ready. And I was shocked by that. That means that the bride was intentional, that means that the bride was pursuing sanctification, and that it was something that was purposefully sought out. And now here's my argument. The faithful attendance of a local church week in and week out on the midweek service and on the Lord's Day is instrumental to our sanctification. It's instrumental to us being made ready. It's instrumental to our preparation for consummation. It's instrumental to our conformity to Christ. Listen, beloved, as we sit underneath spirit-filled exposition, we begin to mature spiritually. We begin to to crave the Word of God, and then we grow in respect to salvation, 1 Peter 2, verse 2. It's when the truth is spoken in love that we begin to grow up in all aspects into Christ, Ephesians 4, 15 tells us. And it is dangerous, it is dangerous to settle into a rut to where the Word preached is limited in your hearing. It is a dangerous rut to where you limit in your life the preached Word of God. While others are in the church on the midweek hearing the Word preached, the power of the Spirit, and others are being conformed, others are growing, you are not. Now listen, this is critical. This is pastoral, and this is why I wanted to address this in love. And I really prayed and asked, Lord, help me. I don't want to be my usual loud, noisy self. Because I don't want, listen, I don't want to come across accusatory. I want to come across pastoral, that I'm pleading with you as a shepherd. I'm pleading with you as a tender mother will plea with the little children that she nurses and cares for, that you would take these things seriously and listen to the word of God. And listen, let the word of God decide for you. I'm simply here to present what the Bible is saying. You have to make a decision on what you're going to do with your life and how aggressive you're going to take sanctification for the glory of God, whether or not you're going to be that readied bride. Let me tell you, the world that we live in is aggressive. The world that we live in is contaminating. It's slow in how it creeps in and wrongfully begins to inform our minds and our thinking. It seductively vies for our affections. It's forcefully chipping away, faithfully chipping away at our minds, chipping away at our hearts, trying to erode that biblical worldview and that glory of God focus that we have. seven days a week, 24 hours a day, little bit by little bit, but assuredly Satan and the world and the system of the world is chipping away and chipping away and attacking and going after the foundations of your faith and are trying to erode away that confidence that you have in the Word of the Lord, but those that are faithful those that are gathered together, those that are sitting under the faithful preaching of the Word of God, where we're being washed by the water of the Word and being built up and singing the Word of God back to the glory of God and engaging one another in godly fellowship, talking about the things of God and edifying and strengthening as we go back into the world, we go out, listen, as valiant victors and not as succumbed victims. We've got to face this dangerous reality of a very dark, dismal, and contaminating world with all of the force that divine truth can throw at it and does throw at it. Paul told the church at Ephesus that the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It's one of the necessary components of the armor of God provided by the faithful grace of God. And without faithful exposure to the life-giving truth of the Word of God, listen to me, Satan will most assuredly find a chink in your armor, he will shoot in his fiery darts, and there will be mass casualty in your life. Listen, the Bible tells us in Romans 12 too, the Word of God renews our minds. Ephesians 617 tells us the Word of God cuts away at the flesh that God so hates. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4.13 that the Word of God matures us and grows us in Christ. That the Word of God equips us for every good work in the Christian life in Ephesians 4.12. And by the way, beloved, I have never met a godly saint that has not been faithful and committed in the local church under the influence of divine truth that's been preached in the power of the Spirit verse by verse. Brothers and sisters, I don't think I'll ever move off this. I don't think they exist. I'm talking about faithful stalwart men and women of God that do not budge, that do not move. There's a reason. They have been filled with the Word of Truth. Their minds have been renewed. They are strengthened with might in their inward man. But they're faithful to hear the Word of God. They sit underneath the fountain of preaching constantly in their lives. Let me ask you a question. It's not rhetorical. It's just a question that needs to be asked. Do you want to grow in grace? Do you want to be protected from Satan's schemes? Do you want to be in that consummation, that wedding with the Lord Jesus Christ? Let me tell you, if you do, sit under the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Apply that faithful preaching to your life. Listen, the midweek sermon, beloved, is a faithful fountain of the pure, sincere milk of the Word of God given so that you might grow because of it. The truths being proclaimed are for the glory of God, but they are also being proclaimed for the sanctification of God's blessed people. This is the will of God, your sanctification. Fourthly, the midweek service is important because our turbulent times demand it. Our turbulent times demand it. Look at verse 25 towards the end. It says, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. All the more what? All the more meeting together with the people of God. Obviously the day that draws near is the Second Coming of Jesus. It's His return for His church. It's the event which consummates the church age. We see in Revelation 22, 20, even so come quickly, Lord, it's the day for which we prepare. We are like those being prepared for a wedding. The wedding is where we will be consummate with the Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity. A passage came to mind when I was in the study with Timothy received from the Apostle Paul, for I know in whom I believe and I am convinced that he is able to guard that which I have entrusted to him until that day. And then he says, hold to the standard of sound words. Right there in the same breath, hold to the standard of sound words. Jesus, if you'll remember, exhorted the disciples and was teaching them that they've got to be ready for His coming. Remember that in Matthew chapter 24, He tells them that they've got to prepare in advance for the coming of the Lord and His glory and His splendor and His might. And this spiritual readiness, Grace Life Church, results from the Word of God being preached. Now, mind you, what is in view is very tumultuous times that will precede the end of the age. Jesus warns His disciples that the nations will experience lawlessness, that there's going to be tension that accompanies the end of the age, that false prophets are going to increase, there's going to be many led away from the faith. that there's going to be tribulation as never before, natural disasters is going to multiply, wars are going to become commonplace. In verse 9 of chapter 24, Jesus says, and that Christianity will become repulsive to the nations. You will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. You say, boy, I don't know if I'm going to live then. You are living then. That's you. We're there. I'm not saying that it's not going to become more turbulent. I'm not saying that it's not going to become more dire. I think that it will. But we're living in times such as these. And here's the irony of it. The Lord says the church is supposed to thrive in that kind of environment. And I'll tell you, if you don't have a proper intake of the Word of God, you are not going to thrive. You're going to wither. Listen, we're supposed to advance the cause of Christ despite heavy opposition and the hardships that surmount against us. And here's how we do that. We take seriously the Word of God. We take seriously our commitment to the church, which is bought by the blood of Christ, which is preserved by the power of Christ, that is upheld by this pillar and support of the truth, which is the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. And think about this, throughout the history of the church, There's been a lot of turbulence. There's been a lot of angst. What has it been that has strengthened the church during these seasons of duress? I'll tell you what it is. It's the Word of God being preached. I was thinking about Luther. There he stood, one against the masses. I guess I could have said one against the mass. He was standing before the tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church charged with heresy. Listen, his life was at stake, but more than that, the truth was at stake. This is a man that had been bathed in Scripture. There had never been such a momentous time in the life of Luther or in the life of the Christian church. Luther was commanded by the council to recant his teachings and his writings, to which Luther famously replies, I am bound by the scriptures I quoted. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything. since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen." With that great famous statement, there stood that stubborn German preacher, his life jeopardized, but here this man would not budge one inch. So here's the question I'm asking, what gave Luther boldness like that? Was it his German lineage? No, it was the word of God. It was the scriptures that gave him his powerful stance, that Luther was a man of the Bible. It wasn't his ancestry, it was his regeneration, his commitment to the word of God. It was the word and the spirit that emboldened this man. Look at me. Tumultuous times demand volumous scripture intake. We need t-shirts that say that. tumultuous times demand voluminous scriptural intake. Nothing strengthens a soul, nothing gives a soul holy resolve like the sword of the Spirit of God." Listen, a true church is a fire hydrant of biblical truth. that we just come and we're saturated with the Bible. It enables strength, it fuels fortitude, it resounds resolve, it amasses ability. Listen, frailty amid circumstantial instability is because of poor intake of the mighty scriptures of God. Jesus says in Luke 6, everyone who comes to me and hears my word and does them, I will show you whom he's like. He's like a man building a house who dug and went deep. and laid a foundation on the rock. And when a flood occurred, the rivers burst against the house. It couldn't shake it because it had been built well. But the one who's heard and did not do accordingly is like a man who built a house on a ground without any foundation, and the river burst against it, and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great. Jesus is here saying what bolsters us, what gives us strength, what will cause our feet to be rooted in deep concrete is whenever we have the Word of God in our hearts and we apply it with our own wills and desires and that we walk in the way of truth and that we live for the glory of God and that we are bathed with the cleansing water of divine truth week in and week out and the midweek service is a bath. in the holy, mighty scriptures of God. Listen, the bride that enters into the consummation has made herself ready. She has been strengthened. She is beautified by the word of the living God. And the victor that triumphs in the battle is the one that has made preparation for the fight. Did you hear me? The man that is victorious in the battle is the one that has made ready in preparation for the fight. that we have put on the Lord Jesus, that we have sat under the preaching of the Word of God, that we have been faithful, and that there's nothing outside of Christendom, there's nothing outside of the celestial city on earth, which God calls His church, that is more important than getting what we're getting, the inspired God-breathed Theonoustos, Word of the living God, that cleanses us and prepares us for that day. Nothing. I said I wasn't gonna get loud, forgive me. Man, I got jet rockets shooting off in my heart. How can I contain it? I told a dear pastor friend of mine, I sent my manuscript to him to proof it for me. I told him, I said, brother, this has been a burning a hole in my soul for three months. Finally, the midweek service is important because our membership vows committed to it. Every member of Grace Life Prior has committed to be faithful in the church. And that includes the midweek service. We've entered into a covenant when we joined a local church, and our faithfulness is part of that covenant. That every member has stood before the church, covenanted in the hearing of the church to be faithful. Our eldership has committed and vowed to be faithful in prayer and to be faithful in study, to intercede for your family. But faithful attendance of the midweek service is a result of that commitment. We've committed to our small groups. We've committed to our Lord's Day worship like this morning. And we've also committed to our midweek worship, which is part of our membership vows. Faithful Christians seek to fulfill their vows. And I get that providence can interrupt. None of us choose when the kids get sick. None of us can prevent all illness because we're in fallen bodies. There are times where we are prohibited because of our workplace, but that's not what we're talking about, is it? We're talking about our normative pattern by which we demonstrate faithfulness in the fulfilling of our vows, both to God and to man. early Church demonstrated this kind of faithfulness. It says in Acts 2.42, they were continually devoting themselves to the Apostles teaching and to the fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayers. Continually devoting, committed to teaching, committed to fellowship, and committed to the breaking of bread, that's the Lord's table, and to prayer. And a pattern, now listen I'm using that word intentionally, a pattern of of negligence in the attendance of worship is a failure to acknowledge the commitments that were made at membership and to make good on those commitments. It's a failure to keep a vow. And by the way, when we make a vow to the Lord and we do not keep that vow, what's that called? It's called sin. The proverb writer said, A good name is to be chosen over great wealth. Favor is better than silver and gold, a good name. Ecclesiastes 5 verse 4 and 5 says, when you make a vow to God, do not be late paying it, for he takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow. It's better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. And so we should never take our membership vows lightly. That we're as Christians committed Lord. We're committed to God. And that's part of being Christian that our commitment is to the Lord. He's bought us with His Son's blood. We've been redeemed. The ransom payment has been made and the price was outlandishly expensive that God became flesh, obeyed the law, became a curse, and succumbed to death to pay the debt that I was due. So this is not a trite thing, it's a serious thing. And we should think upon this just for a moment from the perspective of God, that he sent his son to die, to purchase, and to form the church. The church is God's chosen vehicle to advance his purposes on earth. And unfaithfulness, or a cavalier attitude towards the church, is driven by a lackadaisical attitude towards God's purpose. And this is not a trite but a very serious matter. And we should just think upon that and meditate with gravity and sincerity. Theologian Michael Horton wrote, the visible church is where you find Christ's kingdom on earth and to disregard the kingdom is to disregard its king. So in closing, let me say it's important as Christians for you and I to take inventory of our hearts, our lives, and what we're practicing. And I'm just asking humbly and gently, asking you to consider these five arguments that I've made. I want you to consider the scriptures that I've given, consider the commitments that you've made. I want you to consider the brevity of life, the glory of Christ, the head of the church, and the second coming, and who he comes for. He comes for a bride that's made herself ready. And if you find yourself faithful to the Lord on the midweek service, and you've been very faithful, let me remind all of us, including myself, it's not a matter of congratulatory purpose. We shouldn't be patting ourself on the back. It's just a matter of simple obedience. We're just simply doing what he's commanded us to do. It's just obedience. But if you've been slack, maybe you've drifted into unfaithfulness, I want you to remember that he's merciful to those that confess their sins and turn from them. as I've been preaching on midweek. So I'm asking you to examine your heart and maybe we need to recommit ourselves to Christ, the head of the church. Maybe we need to take more seriously the command to pursue our sanctification and to see that God has ordained and blessed us with a midweek service that helps us on along in sanctification. Lord, we're so thankful that we could come together this morning and hear the word of God Lord, I know that this message has been burning on the inside of me because I greatly yearn for this church to be healthy, biblical, Christ-exalting and God-glorifying and scripture-driven. Lord, it's my desire to see us mature. It's my desire to see us to grow in grace. It's my desire to see us put on Christ. And Lord, help us to be mindful of how this world chips away at our faithfulness. It slips in incognito. It comes in disguised as an angel of light and robs us of what's most important to you. And Lord, we know that a sanctified church, a holy church, is greatly important to you. Lord, help us to think upon these arguments that have been made, these five essential points. And Lord, help us to see that they are biblical and that they are right. and help us to realign ourselves with a Christ-saturated, Christ-informed, Christ-driven life to where we desire the sincere milk of the Word that we might grow by it, that we might take the sword of the Spirit, that we might receive the Word of truth, that we might be underneath the cleansing, purging, informing and strengthening Word of God, that we might be encouraged by it and provoked unto love and good deeds because of it. And, but Lord, mostly that we might glorify you through it. Lord, bless us as we go. Strengthen your church. Help us for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's all stand and we'll dismiss.