You. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. so so You. Good morning and welcome, welcome to all. Welcome to God's house, God's house where we anticipate a celebration also of the Lord's supper this morning. So we come not only for the hearing of the word, also for the celebration of that great communion of Christ's great work. And even as every Sunday is a reminder that we worship him, our risen savior, He is our Savior whose blood was shed for our sins. Welcome to all. A few announcements before our call to worship. There are many announcements in the bulletin. I'll just reference a few of them. First of all, we're moving prayer gatherings for this fall to fourth Tuesdays of the month. So if you could make note of that on your calendars, fourth Tuesdays, starting the fourth Tuesday of this month. Also, we're going to have to cancel the game night tonight. I think what we're going to do here is when we have the first game night for high school youth group in maybe a month and a half, we'll just have everybody from the summer study invited to that. And then regarding communion, just a reminder that we have the elements available in the back. For those who are taking those individually packaged elements, I'll announce when you can stand and come and take those. Basically, as the elders stand up and begin passing out the plates, if you would stand and take those if you wish to use those individually packaged elements. People of God, the Lord is holy Let all the earth keep silent before him. Let us begin with a moment of silent prayer. Amen. If you would stand if able for our call to worship coming from the Psalms from Psalm 27 one thing I have asked of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple for he has hid me in his shelter in the day of trouble he will conceal me under the cover of his tent he will lift me high upon of rock. Indeed, congregation, directing your attention to the bulletin, I ask, where does your help come from? Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Let us receive then God's greeting this morning. To those who are called, be loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Amen. Let us open then in song, people of God, 27B. 27B, let's sing one, three through six. One and three through six of 27B. Oh, what is my life and my salvation here? Who shall my soul upright or cause my heart to fear? While God my strength, my life sustains, Secure from fear my soul remains. I've one request as then, and still this prayer I raise, that I may dwell within God's house through all my days. Jehovah's beauty to admire, and in His temple to inquire. When troubles round me swell, When fears and dangers call, Say, purely I will dwell In His pavilion strong. Within the shelter of His tent, He guides me till the storm is spent. Lifted on the rock, up, up I rose around. Amid the battle shock, my song shall still resound. when I cry you. Amen. And we turn now to Exodus chapter 20. reading of God's perfect will for our lives. Exodus chapter 20 beginning at verse one. And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant, or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. Indeed, focusing upon love, our Savior has summarized the law saying this, that the first and greatest commandment is that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. We also read in the New Testament that if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And summarizing words from the Apostle John, if you are Christians, you will love one another. People of God, we are called to this perfect law. We are called to keep it. We are called to do this in love. Let us come now before the Lord our God in a prayer of confession. Lord, our God, we rejoice at who you are, that you have spoken your perfect law, that you yourself, you are love. And Lord, we pray that as we think of the shall nots and of the you shall, that you would keep us from those many sins which would ensnare us, our very nature being a sinful nature from conception, that you would lead us in love, love which you have called us to so clearly, which each of us fails to do perfectly. Lord, our Lord, we are sinners who come before you. We pray that you would sanctify us, that you would lead us into your law, that you would lead us to be loving people. But Lord, forgive us of our sins. Make us to look upon Jesus Christ alone. And it is indeed in his name that we pray, amen. People of God, as we think about the one to whom we must look and depend, let's sing for our song of confession this morning, to be. the one whom we must look to, the one who all the world must look to and serve. Let's sing 2B together. ♪ For in your heathen nations rage ♪ ♪ While you peoples watch in vain ♪ ♪ Kings and rulers shine to wage ♪ ♪ War against God's royal reign ♪ ♪ Screaming out against the Lord ♪ ♪ Pages of pointed pain ♪ I. And according to my will, I have set you free. ♪ On Zion's holy hill ♪ ♪ Thy anointed will be redeemed ♪ ♪ By the death of his decree ♪ ♪ This to me the Lord did say ♪ ♪ You are my beloved son ♪ ♪ I have brought you forth this day ♪ ♪ As for all the earth abroad ♪ ♪ You shall of the nations part ♪ ♪ You will break them with a rock ♪ ♪ That shall cut the waters dry ♪ For kings be wise, be born, rulers of the earth give ear. Come with all and serve the Lord. We must trust must trust in the blood of Jesus because there is real wrath, real wrath against the nations, real wrath. Lamentations 2 makes clear against the rebellious people, the rebellious daughter of God. And so we need one who can remove this. We need the one who is the perfect sacrifice. And so we take a one-week break from working through the Old Testament and we turn to Hebrews for our assurance of pardon this morning. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 1 speaks about how since the law was but a shadow of the good things to come instead of a true form of the realities, it can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year make perfect those who draw near. But then it says this in verses 11 to 14. And while the priest stands daily in his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins, but when Christ has offered for all time, a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. People of God, there is life in this one sacrifice, the very sacrifice which we celebrate. We celebrate, we do not lament, we celebrate today. Let us come before the Lord in a time of morning prayer. Make note of one lengthy announcement. Again, many announcements this morning, we've included Megan Vandenberg's request for transfer. It's not quite official yet. We need to receive a letter back from Jakarta that they have received the request. We have approved it on our side, and Megan's requested to have her membership transferred to a faithful Presbyterian church in Indonesia, Covenant City Church in Jakarta. And so we pray that she'll be blessed in a full membership there as she continues to teach and labor in the school, which is, I guess it is a bit of a drive, but it's near that church there in Jakarta. Let us come before our Lord in a time of morning prayer. Lord God Almighty, make us to know, make us to know the realities of where there is forgiveness of sins. Lord, there are many pictures, many beautiful and mighty pictures of salvation in the Old Testament. Shadows which had a real divine presence. You really were in Jerusalem and yet, and yet the The shadows, the sacrifices themselves, these things were all insufficient. Insufficient for what we need. What we need, what the people needed then and looked forward to, what we need now and look back upon is our Savior, Jesus Christ. We stand in complete need of Him and His work. Lord, may we all be united together in Him. May this unity be one with which we would celebrate with all of those who preach and hear and trust and believe in the true gospel, the gospel that is, that there is good news in Him alone. Lord, may this gospel be faithfully proclaimed here and throughout the world. And may we celebrate that by rejoicing with all those whom we have unity then in that bond, that unbreakable bond, unbreakable because of the blood of Jesus Christ himself. Lord, as we think of this, we are reminded even of a faithful church on the opposite side of the world. We give thanks for a solid, reformed, and confessional church in Jakarta, Indonesia. We pray that you would bless Megan Vandenberg there as she continues to attend, and Lord willing, is an official member soon. We pray that she would be a blessing to them, that they indeed would be a blessing to her. And Lord, that you would bless your work done in Jakarta and Wapun, and really everywhere in between, it is the opposite side of the world. We pray that you would be with your saints who are members together with us and yet not here physically. So we think of those such as Cal and Bernie, where age and weakness make them unable to be here, but we pray that you would bless them in being able to stream in and we hear that both Cal and Bernie are able to do that this morning is our trust and so we give thanks for that. We pray for those such as Thomas and Andre who are away for work, including for Andre, military service. We pray that you would hold them always in your hand. And we give thanks for Christian fellowship, which they do have in different ways, each of them. We give thanks again for the church, which Andre has been able to be in fellowship with as he serves in the military in Hawaii. We think of also Francois, who is traveling, seeing family and friends in Europe for an extended time. We pray that this would be a good respite for him, a good rest for him, and that he would see many saints who would hold to the true gospel while he is in Europe until you bring him safely back here to us. Lord, we pray as we think of the bond, of the union of faith which we have, we think even especially of communion, of the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and we pray that you would bless us, not only as we hear the word preached, but also as we as we come together for this celebration later this morning. And Lord, as we think of the bond of faith being extended, not only to this very local church, but to a number of local churches joined together in unity, even in organic unity, we pray that you would be with the meeting of Classes Central coming up this Monday and Tuesday, starting tomorrow. We pray that you would be with Reverend Marvin Lease as he prepares for the theological discussion, wishing to become a member and emeritus minister in the URC, and we pray for all other details, including what can sometimes be difficult requests for advice which come at these meetings. And Lord, we think of our own congregational meeting. So not only our weekly gathering for worship, but also our annual congregational meeting, which we have this week, Wednesday, and we pray that there would be a good unity and good order there, that it would be a blessing for us. We think of those who have their names up for service and office. We pray that you would bless all things in this regard and that you would hold us, your church, and bless us with faithful men for service. We pray, Lord God, that you would, again, watch over all things. Let us say it this way, great and small, near and far, as we think of our church here and churches around us and churches on the other side of the world, Lord, There is truly union in Jesus Christ alone, and so we pray in his name alone, amen. Let us stand and sing together from the Psalms, preparing to hear God's word, 97A, 97A. Let's sing one, two, three, and five of 97A. ♪ The Lord our God is King ♪ ♪ Heaven and earth rejoice and sing ♪ ♪ Let joys of wisdom and patience ♪ ♪ Lead the way to salvation ♪ Our glorious King is He! Hark! the herald angels' voices call, When God reveals his might. is holy you ♪ To glory above ♪ light. You saints rejoice in him and touch his holy name. Let's hold his glorious light. Amen. We come now to the reading of God's Word, our text. Lamentations, chapter 2, page 871 in most of the pew Bibles. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations. Lamentations, chapter 2. We'll read and work through all of this chapter. Let us hear together the holy infallible word of the Lord our God. How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud. He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel. He has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger. The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob. In his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers. He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel. He has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy. He has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around. He has bent his bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe, and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes. In the tent of the daughter of Zion, he has poured out his fury like fire. The Lord has become like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all its palaces. He has laid in ruin its strongholds, and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. He has laid waste his booth like a garden, laid in ruins his meeting place. The Lord has made Zion forget festival and Sabbath, and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest. The Lord has scorned his altar, disowned his sanctuary. He has delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. They raised a clamor in the house of the Lord as on the day of festival. The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion. He stretched out the measuring line. He did not restrain his hand from destroying. He caused rampart and wall to lament. They languished together. Her gates have sunk into the ground. He has ruined and broken her bars. Her king and princes are among the nations. The law is no more and her prophets find no vision from the Lord. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. My eyes are spent with weeping. My stomach churns. My bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city. They cry to their mothers, where is bread and wine? As they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out in their mother's bosom. What can I say for you? To what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is vast as the sea. Who can heal you? Your prophets. have seen for you false and deceptive visions. They have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading. All who pass along the way clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, in this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth. All your enemies rail against you. They hiss. They gnash their teeth. They cry, we have swallowed her. Ah, this is the day we longed for. Now we have it. We see it. The Lord has done what he purposed. He has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago. He has thrown down without pity. He has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes. The heart cried out to the Lord, O wall, the daughter of Zion, let tears stream down like a torrent day and night. Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite. Arise, cry out in the night at the beginning of the night. Watches pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord. Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children who faint for hunger at the head of every street. Look, O Lord, and see, with whom have you dealt thus? Should woman eat the fruit of their womb, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old. My young women and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without pity. You summoned, as if to a festival day, my terrors on every side. And on the day of the anger of the Lord, no one escaped or survived. Those whom I held and raised, my enemy destroyed." So far the reading of God's holy word. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, many, many have asked, many who fail to understand the severity of sin, the righteousness of God, the reality of the curse, questions along these lines, is God really the active agent of just judgment? The answer, without ambiguity, clearly stated in so many ways in this chapter, is yes. The fury of God's fire is poured out in Jerusalem. Well, we might say, OK, the answer is yes. But why dwell on this? Why speak of it so thoroughly, so repeatedly? There are many answers to this. let us just begin with this because God is completely just and hasn't the history of the church shown us that we need to hear this again and again because this is one of the first doctrines to go. and people of God, do we see, stepping back, the broad movement of this poem, of this chapter, of chapter two, even as it's part of the whole, part of Lamentations as a whole, it begins very much with that focus, even as that focus never leaves, that the Lord has done this. Just see how many times He has, He has, He has, repeated, repeated, repeated again through the first six verses. And yet, This is the one this is the one to whom the city is told to cry out to pour out your heart to him like water. It says in verse 19. This is the one who has the center of this book makes makes so clear is always faithful. You see, God does bring the judgment, but God can and God must be cried out to because God is also the one who brings the restoration. And we see also all these things being torn down, all this real lament, and it makes us to look forward to, from the perspective of lamentations, to look back upon from our spot in the history of the world today, the one sacrifice for which there is no lamentation, the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ for which there is only ever celebration at what he has accomplished that cannot be torn down. And so as we work through this, we'll take those two dominant ideas that the persons are judged and then we'll consider also the places that are judged. So first the persons, and we see not only that repeated he has, he has, he has language, which makes it clear that Jesus has done this, that God Almighty, the Triune God has done this, but we see very clearly that this is judgment, not merely in what we might call the Psalm 2 sense, we sang Psalm 2 earlier in this service, not merely in the song to judgment against the nations who would take counsel against God. No, this is judgment against the people of God. And so we see repeated use of that, that covenant, those covenant names, such as Israel and Jacob four times in the first three verses. We see each of those names twice. We see Jacob twice. We see Israel twice. What does that do? And that's making it clear from the outset of this Remember, each chapter in Lamentations is a separate poem, even as they're all part of a whole. This is making it very clear we're talking about the covenant people of God. We're talking about the people of Israel, the people of Jacob, as was his other name. And that's also made clear with the repeated use of the word daughter. daughter, sometimes daughter Zion, sometimes daughter Judah, sometimes just daughter, but the word daughter appears 10 times all throughout this chapter. Who is the daughter? Well, that's not merely the foreign nations, that's the covenant people of God, people of Israel, people of Judah, the people of Zion. This is who is judged, judged by the divine person. the only true God, Yahweh, Lord, Almighty God. He has done it. He has done it. Think of just some of the images, fury, wrath, like fire, the end of verse four. Also in verse four, what's that picture of a bow? It's that God is bending the bow, that means it's about ready to fire. And what does it mean that his right hand is set? It means that his right hand is set on the string, ready to release the arrow of destruction. Think of some of the other pictures here. Think of the completeness of these pictures. There's images of breaking and of swallowing, verse two. If you break something, if you topple something over, well, that's an act of destruction, but at least you can pick that thing back up again. But that's not the only image we have. We have not only breaking and tearing down, we have also the image of swallowing. Well, if you swallow something, you can't get it back. It's a quick and complete image of destruction. These are the pictures we have of what God has done to his very covenant people. The young and the old, verses 10 and 21, speak of young and old. The men and the women, verse 21, speak of the young men and the young women. Man, woman, and child. Children are spoken of multiple times. It's even a theme within the themes of Lamentations 2. Whether that's verses 11 and 12 or verse 19. Children as well are swept up in all of this. Young, old, man, woman, and child, the leaders as well, the kings and priests. They are also mentioned many times versus the end of verse two, the end of verse six, the end of verse 21. All of it. All of it. We might think of the language of Psalm 89, which speaks about God's special presence with the leaders of this nation. And it's those leaders, those who stand in the covenant line of David, they are toppled. They are swallowed. Of course, these leaders were not righteous leaders. They bear a particular responsibility in what has happened. Do you see in the middle of verse 9, the law is no more? The law is no more. Her prophets find no vision from the Lord. Why is that? Because they're not faithful prophets. The word law can actually be used to speak about the instruction of the law. So perhaps we should read the end of verse nine there. The instruction of the law is no more. Her prophets, they find no vision from the Lord. They are unfaithful prophets. They did what? Verse 14, your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions. They have not exposed your iniquity. And of course, that was a focus of chapter one, that there was real sin in Jerusalem. Why are the leaders judged? Because they never exposed that sin. They spoke falsely, they spoke deceptively. They spoke what the people wanted to hear and Jeremiah 5 tells us that indeed the people loved to have it so. Now what about the voice of a faithful prophet? Now remember, for those who were here last week, we spoke about how the voices of Lamentations are, they're changing. Sometimes the personified voice of the city is speaking. And most often the Lamentations, when we see first person eye language, that's what's going on. It's the city that's speaking, that's crying out. We have something different in verses 11 to 13. We have the first person voice, but unlike basically all the rest of Lamentations where the eye voice is used and it's the city speaking personified or the people of Jerusalem speaking collectively with a personal eye voice, here, for three verses, 11, 12, and 13 of chapter two, There is a personal I voice speaking to the city. What can I say to you? Oh, daughters. Now, Lamentations does not tell us who the author is. Its church history is why we've referred to Jeremiah many times as the author of Lamentations. And so since Lamentations does not tell us explicitly, I'm following some other conservative teachers and scholars who just refer to the poet. They say we don't know who wrote it. But people of God, it is interesting. And I will speak about Jeremiah and use the word Jeremiah, at least for these few verses. Because in these two verses, what do we have? We have the voice of a faithful prophet crying with the city. A personal voice which isn't the city personified, but which is speaking to the city. And it's been noted that the language just of these three verses is found throughout the book of Jeremiah. So what does that mean? That means we have just for a few verses, the personal voice of the prophet breaking in and speaking about his tears at what he sees. And they are distraught tears. What can I say? What can I do? My eyes are spent with weeping. What can I say to you? How can I comfort you? It's appropriate at this point to say this, people of God, this is the voice of a faithful prophet who has preached and not been heard, isn't it? Remember Philippians chapter two. I'll just speak about two of the words that we use there. Are we to have fear or compassion? When we look at the world, we're to have compassion, right? Isn't this a voice of compassion? crying out, I have preached to these people. I have loved these people, though they imprisoned me, though they put me in the stocks, though they threw me in the deepest dungeon and all those things happened to Jeremiah. But now the destruction comes, what does he do? He's not standing there laughing at them. He's not standing there saying, told you so. No, in the personal voice of the prophet, comes through for just a few verses. It is tears of compassion for those who refused to hear the faithful warnings and faithful proclamations. This is our stance. When the gospel is spoken and when it is not heeded, This is the voice of Jeremiah for three verses coming to us. You know, when we think of Christian community level, so we might just say it this way, let's put it in 21st century terms. When we think of denominational level, rebellion against God's word, it brings us to what? It brings us to tears, it brings us to compassion. So we could think of those who, when church decisions are made, such as approving women in office, which happened quite some time ago. And then a young pastor steps out of that meeting and stands in the middle of Calvin's campus, which is where that decision was first made. And he's just standing there crying. And a professor comes alongside this former student of his, and it's not difficult to figure out what's happened. And what does he say? He says, He says this he says women in office today homosexual marriage tomorrow because he knew what he knew that this young pastor was was crying about the about the authority of God's Word being taken down. And while many would say well, this is this is just a small thing right? This this is just something that that maybe we can disagree on. It's not such a big deal. No, this this faithful professor knew that this faithful preacher was crying for for what that That there was false and deceptive teaching and he knew it wouldn't stop there. He knew it would continue and indeed it has continued to the point where where that denomination just in the last five days for the first time as it has appointed an office bearer who's openly in a homosexual marriage. So the the prophecy. of what happens today will lead to this tomorrow is absolutely correct, and the tears are absolutely the right response when the authority of God's Word is broken down. And when it happens at this level, it's inevitable that it will happen at other levels as well. This is the response of one who is faithful when he sees false prophets heard, when he sees destruction come to those who should have been the faithful daughters, the faithful people of God. And God is absolutely right in what he has done to the people of Jerusalem. If we step back most directly into this very context, we could think of from the language, how the Lord verse 17, he has done what he has purposed. Again, this is very much what God has done. This is not some accident. He had purpose to do this. He has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago. What is that talking about? What did God command long ago? We could read. It's lengthy, so we won't do this, but we could read all of Deuteronomy chapter 28, which was written nearly a millennium before Lamentations. And we could pick out example after example of specific prophecies in Deuteronomy chapter 28 about curses that would come to rebellious people, to rebellious covenant people that are explicitly, specifically mentioned again in Lamentations. I'll pick just five examples. Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 25 speaks about how the people of God who rebel against him will become a horror to the nations running in defeat. Do we see that in Lamentations? Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 32 said your sons and daughters will be given to another people. Do we see that in Lamentations? It specifically says that this other people, Deuteronomy 28 verses 45 to 51, would be a ruthless nation. They would fall into the hands of a ruthless nation. Now we might say that's more explicitly seen in Habakkuk 1 and other chapters, but certainly we see many ruthless actions. Even as the enemy is, the enemy is not in, the enemy itself is not in the foreground. No, the focus in Lamentations is that Jesus allowed the enemy to come in. In the face of the enemy, he allowed them to come, verse three. But it is like God himself is the enemy, verse four. But certainly this nation, these Babylonians whom God allowed in, they were a ruthless nation. And then Deuteronomy 28 verses 36 to 44, it specifically says that their kings will go into exile. They didn't even have kings yet when Deuteronomy 28 was written, but it was written long ago that these days would come. specific prophecies, specifically fulfilled. And then we could also speak about Deuteronomy 28 verses 52 to 63, which speaks about terrible things, even specifically horrific things happening to the children of the people of Israel. And that is what we see in Lamentations 2 and Lamentations 4. Again, we'll see it. People of God. God is long suffering. He spoke of this long ago nearly a millennium ago and generation after generation of the people of God have rebelled against him and again and again God has restored them. He has brought up faithful judges and then he brought up faithful Kings. Century after century, this happened. And now finally, after all the many warnings, this judgment comes. Could we stand here in the understanding of all those things and say God is to blame? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. The people have sinned. The people have been judged. Of course, Jesus alone, Jesus alone. I'm at the very tail end of a cold, but perhaps my voice wasn't ready for that. And the people of God, it has always been true that they needed the greater priest, that they needed Jesus, the son of God, that they always needed the greater prophet, the one who Moses said there would be one greater than him. And Acts 3, of course, tells us explicitly that that one is Jesus Christ. They've always needed not merely a human Davidic king, but they needed an eternal Hebrews one, Davidic Matthew one king, who is what? Jesus Christ. The fury and fire of God have come. They have come against the rebellious people of God. And there were, Those who were not actively part of the rebellion, who were swept up in that, there were a few righteous who stood in the midst of unrighteous. How did they live? The back of chapter two, speaking about this very event, says this, the just shall live by faith. There were children also who were swept up in this, but the question to ask is not, how could God do this to these children? The question to ask is, how could these parents do this to these children? Because the people are absolutely responsible for continued rebellion to the point of this great day of destruction, which came against the very people of God. And certainly we see the places are judged as well. And this is Jerusalem. This is the place the special presence of God and so. Of course, we'll speak about these places. These are important places. And verse three is a bridge for us coming into our second point. There's some double imagery going on in verse three. He cut down in his fierce anger all the might, literally the horn of Israel. He has withdrawn from them his right hand. There's double imagery in both of those things there. The right hand of God is specifically his power, his might, his authority, but also its reference to a special royal position. And so what does it mean when his right hand is withdrawn? It means that there's no strength from God for Israel to fight against the enemy. So the people will be judged and it's also speaking about the special presence of God being withdrawn. So we think then of the places of how Jerusalem is both the religious and the and the royal center of the people of God. All of this is being removed. And then the horn also, again, might at the beginning of verse three is literally horn. That's also a double image. When we think of a horn, we think of might, we think of strength. What do we do to animals even today to take away some of their might, some of their fierceness? We take their horns away. Well, a horn is quite often in the Old Testament, a picture of military might, military strength. And the context is clear, that's taken away. They have no strength to stand before the enemy, which comes. But it's also, the horn, I wish they would have kept it horned, not just merely taken what the image most often means, in might. It's a double image, because the horn is also tied to the altar. The altar had a horn on each of its four corners. There were four horns on the altar. And there's a picture in the Old Testament that you would grab hold of the horns of the altar. And you're showing that you're depending upon a sacrifice, that picture for forgiveness. You would grab hold of the horns so that you would have forgiveness. And so we see it's being used the double image. The horn is cut down. The place of giving offerings, it's taken away. The temple is destroyed. The altar is broken. And the army has no might. Our horn is gone. We are left desolate. And indeed, this is true for all of Judea. And so we see this all-inclusive language, especially at the beginning of Lamentations 2. It's consumed all around the end of verse three. All of Israel, all of Jacob. It is all destroyed. And then we could think of not only the surrounding countryside, But also of the strongholds the strongholds are mentioned in verse 2 middle of verse 2 in the middle of verse 5. What are those? Those were the forts that Judea had built in strategic locations surrounding them to try to have a defense around Jerusalem. The picture which we get from Jeremiah is that they just slowly crumble. So Jeremiah 34 mentions that Lashish and Azekah are the last two strongholds that stand. Well, they all eventually fall. They all eventually fall. All the forts are done. And then it comes into Jerusalem itself. The very palaces, the very walls and ramparts, verses seven and eight and nine, the whole city, verse eight, is measured for destruction. measured for destruction, verse eight. Let's think about that image for a little bit, people of God. When you're measuring something, you're doing something very intentionally, aren't you? It's not just willy nilly, you're measuring what you're going to do. What's the picture here in verse eight? God is measuring out what is going to be destroyed. When God's wrath comes down, it is intentional, it is measured, it is complete, and all of the city is measured out, and all of the city is destroyed. This is all what the Lord has determined at the beginning of verse 8. The Lord is determined to do this. So all of the surrounding countryside and all of the city is destroyed, including now we're coming more centrally and centrally, we might say, including the very temple. and the very altar, and so the festivals and sacrifices are done, and that's what we read especially in verses 6 and 7. We see all of those things. His booth is like a garden. Booth is an image for the temple of God. His booth is like a garden. In other words, the strong temple is like a garden which can be more easily destroyed than more easily destroyed than a building. That's the picture at the beginning of verse 6. Laid in ruins is his meeting place. That's making explicit what is pictured at the beginning of verse 6. The Lord has made Zion forget festival and Sabbath. We can no longer have our festivals. We can no longer have our Sabbaths. Why? Because the Lord, verse 7, has disowned his sanctuaries. His altar is the altar of God. has been broken. He scorned his altar. He's disowned his sanctuary. Where does this leave Jerusalem? People of God, where does this leave Jerusalem? All these shadows are being destroyed. Does this mean that since the shadows are destroyed, and since Jesus has not yet come, that salvation is impossible? Well, no. The just shall live by faith. And it was always true in both the Old and New Testaments, Hosea six, verse six, that I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. That's the Old Testament, Hosea six. It says in the New Testament in Matthew nine, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I came to call, not to call the righteous, but sinners. Those who would recognize their need of God are saved in every generation. Even the Old Testament people did not need the shadow. They needed to depend upon God. They needed to love God. They needed to know they were sinners before God. And so salvation is still possible, but this was a real place of blessing. There was a real presence of God in the temple. This is no small thing. This is no small thing. And so just as the kings and the prophets and the priests being removed is a reminder that we need the true prophet, priest, and king, Jesus Christ. So these things being torn down is a reminder that we need Jesus, who is the temple. Doesn't Jesus say that in John chapter two? Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. What is he speaking about? He's speaking about himself. Jesus is the temple. We need Jesus who is the altar. Hebrews chapter 13 speaks about how we have an altar, and it's clear from verse eight that it's speaking about who? Jesus Christ himself. He is the temple. He is the altar. He is the sacrifice. Hebrews 7 verse 27, he offered up himself. This complete destruction. is a reminder that man and man's rituals would never be able to accomplish salvation. We can put it this way, there's real lamentation because there was a special presence of God in this place, in this city, and tied to these shadows, but they were shadows. They were shadows. We needed one sacrifice for which there would never be a song of lamentation. We needed one sacrifice for which there would only be celebration and remembrance. That's what celebrating the Lord's Supper is, people of God. That's what celebrating the Lord's Supper is. And that's really the one main thing I want us to take away from this chapter. All these great shadows, when they're gone, there's a real sadness. There's a real cry of lament for the people of God who have rebelled, for the shadows of the Old Testament being destroyed, never to be restored in the same way again. There has always been a need for Jesus Christ. There has always been a need for that unbreakable temple, for that temple which would rise again on the third day. There has always been a need for that perfect unbreakable altar to which we can grab hold of the horns and it will never be destroyed. We can grab hold of what Jesus Christ has done by faith and there is always, always peace there. It will never be destroyed. We need not the offerings which were the symbols, but we need the once for all offering, Jesus Christ offering up himself. This is a celebration which we come to. All else is eventually broken. There are many causes for tears in this world, including the specific tears of even the people of God rebelling against God. But there is unbreakable life in the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our Lord, make us to come before you, to pour out our hearts like water before you. Because in you we find persons and places. We find the true priest and the true offering which is never broken. We find life eternal. We find life for all those who believe. So we pray in Jesus' eternal name. Amen. People of God, let us sing. Let us sing concerning concerning that celebration, concerning the Lord's Supper, the table to which we are now coming. Let's sing 197 together. ♪ We partake the body of the Lord ♪ ♪ And drink the blood of Christ, for us of old ♪ ♪ Raising our glass to the wonders of his glory ♪ rescue us Remember how he bore our curse and shame Until he comes, let us his death proclaim Come, let us live with contrite hearts drawn near To seek the pledges of His mercy dear. He who His saints in this world rules and shields, To all believers life eternal yields. bread he makes the hungry whole. Gives living waters to the thirsty soul. Let us his holy And so refreshed our coming King awaits. Be seated. We come to reading in the Forms and Prayers book, page 45. We'll begin at the bottom of page 45 where it says, Formulary. The beginning of page 45, the bold heading, Formulary. Again, a note, a few things before we begin. The communion plates passed around have wine in the outer ring, grape juice in the inner two rings. The individually packaged elements are all grape juice, fruit of the vine in that way. And I will, when the bread is broken, as the elders begin to pass out these elements, at that time if you would stand and come forward and grab the individually packaged if you are partaking in that way. Formulary, bottom of page 45. Beloved, hear now the words of the Apostle Paul concerning the institution of the Holy Supper. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. When our Lord said, do this in remembrance of me, he ordained this Holy Supper as a constant memorial and visible proclamation of his death. The Apostle Paul also teaches us that as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord's death. As we partake, therefore, we bear witness that our Lord Jesus was sent by the Father into the world to take upon himself our flesh and blood and to bear the wrath of God on the cross for us. We confess that he came to earth to bring us to heaven. that he was condemned to die, that we might be pardoned, that he endured the suffering and death of the cross, that we might live through him, and that he was once forsaken by God, that we might forever be accepted by him. The sacrament thus confirms us in God's abiding love and covenant faithfulness, sealing to our hearts the promises of His gracious covenant and assuring us that we belong to His covenant family. Let us then be persuaded as we eat and drink that God will always love us and accept us as His children for the sake of His Son. Our Lord also promises that as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we are fed with his crucified body and shed blood. To do this, he gave us his life-giving spirit, through whom the body and blood of our Lord became the life-giving nourishment of our souls. Thus, he unites us with himself, and so imparts the precious benefits of his sacrifice to all who partake in faith. As a means of grace, this meal also unites us with one another in the bond of the Spirit. As the Apostle says, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Thus, even as he unites us with himself, he strengthens the bond of communion between us, his children. Finally, the remembrance of our Lord's death revives us in the hope of his return. Since he commanded us to do this until he comes, the Lord assures us that he will come again to take us to himself. As we commune with him now under the veil of those earthly elements we are assured that we shall behold him face to face and rejoice in the glory of his appearing. Our Lord Jesus will surely do what he has promised. Let us draw near to his table then believing that he will strengthen us in faith unite us in love and establish us more firmly in the hope of his coming to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom priest to his God and father to him Be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. People of God, let us now pray and note that we close together this prayer with the Lord's Prayer. And let us pray. Almighty God, with one accord we give thanks for all the blessings of your grace, but most of all we thank you for the unspeakable gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. We most humbly thank you that your Son came to us in human form, that he lived a perfect life on earth, and that he died for us on the cross, and that he arose victoriously from the dead. We bless you for the gift of your Holy Spirit, for the gospel of reconciliation, for the church universal, for the ministry and the sacraments of the church, and for the blessed hope of everlasting life. We pray, gracious Father, that you would grant us your Holy Spirit, that through this sacrament our souls may truly be fed with the crucified body and shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant us the full assurance of your grace as we draw near to your holy table, filling our hearts with humble gratitude for your mercies. Unite us more fully with our blessed Lord, and so also with one another. Enable us in newness of life to pledge ourselves in service to Christ and all your children, and lift our hearts to you that in all the troubles and sorrows of this life we may persevere in the living hope of the coming of our Savior in glory. Answer us, O God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us together to pray, saying, Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. People of God, let us also, as we draw near, confess our Christian faith together. The words of the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Beloved, Hear these gracious words of promise spoken by our Lord. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Whoever comes to me I will never cast out. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, let us lift up our hearts to the Lord. Let us lift them up to the God of our salvation. The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had broken it, he gave thanks and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. so so Take, eat, remember and believe that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was given for the complete forgiveness of all our sins. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you. For in my blood, in my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many, there is forgiveness of sins. Yeah. Take, drink, remember and believe that the precious blood of our Lord was shed for the complete remission of all our sins. People of God, there is responsive thanksgiving on page 48. Responsive note of thanksgiving from Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord, O my soul. who forgives all your iniquity, who redeems your life from the pit, who satisfies you with good. Let us close with a prayer of thanksgiving. Almighty God, we give you our most humble and hearty thanks that, of your great mercy, you have given us your Son to be our Savior from sin and to be our constant source of faith, hope, and love. We bless you for permitting us to show forth his death and to receive the communion of his body and blood through the Holy Sacrament. We praise you for uniting us more fully with the body of Christ, and for assuring us that we are heirs of your heavenly kingdom. Grant that our commemoration of his death may tend to the daily confirming of our faith, the establishment of our hope, and the strengthening of our love. Enable us henceforth to live always for our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us. Amen. People of God, the deacons now come forward for our morning offering this morning. That's first for the building fund, second for the benevolent fund. Following this, our benediction and doxology 567. If you would stand, people of God, and let us hear the parting blessing of our God. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise Him all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ You. Oh. so