The God Who is Father: Why the Nicene Creed Still Matters Today

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
.
[00:00:29] .

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Deuteronomy

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
... ... ... ... ... ...
[00:01:21] How's it going, sir?
[00:01:50] Doing all right?

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let's pray.
[00:02:19] Thank you.
[00:02:48] ... ... ... ... ...
[00:03:20] .
[00:03:41] .
[00:03:41] .
[00:04:01] ... ... ... ... ...
[00:04:31] .
[00:04:51] .
[00:04:51] .
[00:05:27] Let us pray.
[00:05:42] Let us pray.
[00:05:55] Let's pray.
[00:06:34] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:07:01] Amen.
[00:07:04] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:07:27] Amen.
[00:07:46] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:08:00] Amen.
[00:08:12] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:08:41] Amen.
[00:08:46] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:09:12] Amen.
[00:09:16] Let us pray.
[00:09:42] Let us pray.
[00:09:51] Let us pray.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning and welcome on this beautiful day to Back Creek Church.
[00:10:40] Let's stand and start this worship service in song.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
The creatures of our God and King Lift up your voice and with us sing Oh praise Him, Hallelujah Thou burning sun with golden beam Thou silver moon with softer gleam
[00:11:58] O praise Him, O praise Him, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
[00:12:27] All things their Creator bless And worship Him in humbleness O praise Him, Alleluia Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son And praise the Spirit, three in one
[00:12:56] O praise Him!
[00:13:21] O praise Him!
[00:13:21] Alleluia!
[00:13:21] Alleluia!
[00:13:22] Alleluia!
[00:13:22] All the world receives us by His blood
[00:13:25] Rejoice in His great love O praise Him Hallelujah Christ has defeated every sin Cast all your burdens now on Him O praise Him
[00:13:51] O praise Him!
[00:14:00] Alleluia!

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Alleluia!

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Alleluia!
[00:14:10] We shall return in power to reign Heaven and earth will join to sing
[00:14:21] O praise Him!
[00:14:37] Alleluia!
[00:14:37] Then we shall follow Him beneath All creatures of our God and King
[00:14:40] O praise Him!

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
O praise Him!
[00:15:05] Hallelujah!

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Hallelujah!
[00:15:06] O praise Him!
[00:15:06] O praise Him!
[00:15:06] Hallelujah!
[00:15:07] Hallelujah!
[00:15:07] Hallelujah!

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
And all of God's creature people said, Amen.
[00:15:39] Some of us are creature-like.

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
What a joy it is to know that one day
[00:15:50] Every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow before the name that is above every name, that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[00:16:04] And so we as the people of God, the people of the triune God, the one true and living God, we gather together to announce before that day
[00:16:15] That all people should come to know and to love and to worship Him.
[00:16:19] And that's what we are here for.
[00:16:22] Now before we get into our worship service, I want to just ask that you would look to the inside of your row.
[00:16:28] If you're not already using the Church Center app, if you are, you can check in there.
[00:16:31] We'd love to have a record of your attendance with us.
[00:16:34] But if not, then we'd ask you to take that white folder and if you would give us your name.
[00:16:38] and whatever contact information you feel comfortable providing to us we want to be able to thank you for being here because your presence really does matter to us and we'd love to know also if there are ways that we can be of service to you i also want to let you know about a few things that are going on in the life of our church the very first thing is that next sunday immediately following the worship service is our annual congregational business meeting
[00:17:06] Alright, it sounds boring, but it's not.
[00:17:09] It actually is a really crucial thing.
[00:17:14] In the life of this expression of Christ's body that you the members of Back Creek Church would in God's providence approve the way that we will use the resources that God has provided to you and through you to us by approving our budget for 2026.
[00:17:34] To carefully and prayerfully consider it this week as you'll receive it in the email or perhaps in your mailbox.
[00:17:43] And also to consider the men that God has raised up to serve us in the offices of ruling elder and deacon, the shepherds and servants of our church.
[00:17:54] And so I would just ask you to please just, if you haven't already, to start today and just pray this week for our congregational meeting that the Lord himself, that the Holy Spirit would lead us and guide us into next year as he sees fit.
[00:18:09] that the dollars that we approve to be used for kingdom work would go to that purpose and that the men that we choose to lead us and to serve us would embrace that responsibility in the power
[00:18:26] of the Holy Spirit and on Reliance on Him.
[00:18:44] At the same time, if you're a guest, you're free to go.
[00:18:46] But if you're a member, we need you to stay so that we can have a quorum, so that we can conduct the business of the church.
[00:18:53] Also want to let you know that we're going to be hanging the greens.
[00:18:56] We're going to be decorating the sanctuary for the Advent season on November the 23rd, following...
[00:19:02] The worship service there will be a lunch provided for anyone who will stay and help us decorate the church and there is so much more going on middle school retreat is coming up and there's a whole lot else and so I refer you to the back of your bulletin to the church center app as well as to our church website for the information that you need to connect with God and to connect with one another through Back Creek Church
[00:19:24] But as we said and sang at the beginning, we are here to worship the living and true God.
[00:19:30] And He Himself calls us into His worship this morning from Psalm 95.
[00:19:34] O come, let us worship and bow down.
[00:19:39] Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.
[00:19:42] For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
[00:19:49] Let's go to the Lord together in prayer.
[00:19:54] O Lord our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, eternal in the heavens, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, the Holy One who dwells in unapproachable light, Lord, it is our eager desire to worship you.
[00:20:16] To bow down before you, to kneel before you, acknowledging that you are the Lord, you are the King, you are our Maker.
[00:20:26] It is by you that we exist.
[00:20:28] And you have given to us life and breath and everything else.
[00:20:32] You have determined the times and the boundaries in which we would live.
[00:20:37] And Lord, not only so, but you have, in your love, your kindness, and your grace, you have come to us in our rebellion, in our sin, in our brokenness, in our rejection of you, and you have redeemed us at great cost to yourself.
[00:20:56] Through the life and death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, O Lord, You have reconciled us.
[00:21:02] You have forgiven our sins.
[00:21:04] You have restored us to the fellowship that we forfeited by our sin.
[00:21:10] You have adopted us into Your family.
[00:21:13] You have called us Your children.
[00:21:14] You have given us Your Spirit.
[00:21:16] And You promised to meet us as we gather together on Your day, in Your presence, with Your people, through the means that You have appointed.
[00:21:24] Word, Prayer, and Sacrament.
[00:21:27] So Lord, not only is it our eager desire today to worship you, it is our eager expectation that we will receive from you.
[00:21:36] As we give to you our worship, oh Lord, we are eager to hear your word, to pray your word, and to sing your word, to hear your word read and preached, and oh Lord, to touch and taste and smell your word as we partake of the sacrament
[00:21:54] Lord, we partake of bread and juice later, having heard, Lord Jesus, your words of institution.
[00:22:03] But we know that those who partake in faith, not physically but truly and spiritually, partake of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:22:13] And so, Lord, we look to you now to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
[00:22:18] Produce worship in our hearts and in our bodies that is pleasing and acceptable in your sight.
[00:22:24] O Lord, through the name and the blood of Jesus, we ask all of these things.
[00:22:29] Amen.
[00:22:30] Let's stand together and worship the Lord in song.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Light of the world.
[00:22:44] of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit of the Holy Spirit.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that You're my God You're altogether lovely Altogether worthy Altogether wonderful to me
[00:23:54] All for love's sake became whole Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that You're my God You're altogether loving Altogether worthy
[00:24:41] I know how much it cost to see my sin upon that throne Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that You're my God You're altogether love
[00:25:09] All together holy, all together wonderful to me Here I am to worship, here I am to praise
[00:25:31] You're altogether lovely, altogether holy, altogether wonderful to me

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Here I am to worship Here I am to bow down Here I am to say that You're my God You're altogether lovely Altogether worthy Altogether wonderful to me

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
I will praise Him, He is exalted, forever exalted And I will praise His name

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Rejoice in His Holy Name He is exalted, the King is exalted on high
[00:27:29] He is exalted on high I will praise Him He is exalted forever Exalted and I will praise Him
[00:28:05] Rejoice in His Holy Name He is the Lord Forever His truth shall reign Heaven and earth Rejoice in His Holy Name
[00:28:29] He is exalted, the King is exalted on high
[00:29:04] Rejoice in your holy name You are the Lord Forever your truth shall reign Heaven and earth Rejoice in your holy name
[00:29:29] You are exalted forever, exalted on high.

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Amen.
[00:29:58] You may be seated.

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
In honor of the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, we're going to spend this month thinking and talking together about God and about the truths of what we believe as they are expressed in this creed, which we'll confess every week.
[00:30:27] I know many of you, with our last series on welcome, you memorized our verse for that welcome series.
[00:30:37] Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God.
[00:30:41] It's time to level up.
[00:30:44] Let's together memorize the Nicene Creed.
[00:30:48] But not today.
[00:30:51] Let's confess our faith together in answer to the question, Christians, what do you believe?
[00:30:58] We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
[00:31:03] of all things visible and invisible and in one Lord Jesus Christ the only Son of God begotten from the Father before all ages God from God light from light true God from true God begotten not made of the same essence as the Father
[00:31:26] Through Him all things were made.
[00:31:29] For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven.
[00:31:34] He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made human.
[00:31:40] He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate.
[00:31:44] He suffered and was buried.
[00:31:46] The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures.
[00:31:50] He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
[00:31:55] He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.
[00:32:00] His kingdom will never end.
[00:32:03] And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.
[00:32:08] He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
[00:32:15] He spoke through the prophets.
[00:32:18] We believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
[00:32:22] We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
[00:32:26] We look forward to the resurrection of the dead and to life in the world to come.
[00:32:32] Amen.
[00:32:33] Amen.
[00:32:33] I invite one of our elders, Mike Weller, to come and lead us in a prayer of intercession.

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Good morning.
[00:33:04] Dear Heavenly Father, I lift up to you this morning those who are struggling with the basic needs, a lack of food, a lack of resources, those in our community and across the country.
[00:33:19] Jesus told us that whatever we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we do for him.
[00:33:26] I pray that we will turn our hearts and minds into serving those who are in need of the basic necessities of life.
[00:33:34] And Father, for our neighbors who don't yet know you, struggling with the challenges of everyday life, work challenges, financial challenges, I also pray that we would be effective in reaching them with a message of hope and a message of salvation.
[00:33:52] that we have forgiveness for our sins because of Christ's sacrifice that we can have everlasting life with you our creator and gracious God Father this morning I lift up this congregation this family of believers and those here this morning who may not have heard the good news of the gospel I ask that you be with those who are in poor health and grant your healing hand that they may be restored from illness
[00:34:22] Give them hope and peace and comfort during their struggles.
[00:34:28] And Father, remind us that when we do pray, you answer our prayers, Father, and that we should be reminded to be grateful and acknowledge you for answered prayers.
[00:34:43] Father, lift up those who are battling cancer for Becky, for the Mitchell family, for Deborah,
[00:34:49] I pray that they may be surrounded by friends and loved ones and caregivers who show compassion and encouragement.
[00:34:57] And I lift up to you our homebound church members and those who care for them.
[00:35:02] For Jim, Sylvia, Jan, Hazelene, and Barbara, may they be comforted by the fellowship of loved ones and the knowledge that you are with them always.
[00:35:14] I lift up Pastor Matt and ask that you speak through your servant this morning
[00:35:19] that the message preached today will resonate with all that hear this message and that will affect transformation in our hearts and cause us to turn towards you and take action and to reach others with this message.
[00:35:36] Father, I lift up the missionaries who are spreading the hope of the gospel across the globe.
[00:35:41] While they are planting seeds, I pray that your Holy Spirit will bring fruit and a multitude of people would glorify your name.
[00:35:49] Lord, I lift up the ARP ministries and missions and give thanks for the von Clarkin Conference Center and Camp Joy and World Witness.
[00:36:00] And I also pray, Father, for the upcoming middle school retreat that those who attend will be reached in a special way and that you and your message will be placed on their hearts.
[00:36:14] Father, I give thanks for campus ministries and those who are dedicating their gifts to you.
[00:36:19] For leading ministries that reach out to students who are searching for the knowledge of who you are and how to know you better.
[00:36:27] Father, I also pray for the upcoming congregational meeting next week.
[00:36:33] Father, that we would come together as a family of believers and that we would be in unity and we would have peace in our meeting and decision-making.
[00:36:46] And now, Father, I ask that you accept these tithes and offerings as a reflection of your love for us and how you have richly blessed us in so many ways, and our acknowledgement that everything we have comes from you.
[00:36:59] I pray that these gifts will be meaningful and effective to advance your kingdom and glorify your name.
[00:37:05] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:37:06] Amen.

[00:37:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
We believe in one God, the Father The Almighty, the Maker of all The One who rules the seen and the unseen We believe and we adore Jesus Christ, the Lord of creation
[00:38:12] From the Father begotten I'm made He is the light from life eternal And the God of every age All glory to the Father now All honor to the Son
[00:38:42] Praise the Spirit now and always This is the God we love For His Word and for our salvation He came down from the heavens above Born of a virgin man The Spirit, truly man
[00:39:11] and Truly God He was crucified under Pilate Suffered death and was laid in the grave And in accordance with the Scriptures
[00:39:38] All glory to the Father now All honor to the Son And praise the Spirit now and always This is the God
[00:40:06] In the heavens above, where He sits at the Father's right hand.
[00:40:19] And they will come back again, and they will judge you truly.
[00:40:25] The Holy Spirit has come, voice of the prophets of God Said to us, He has given us new life Forgiven now and baptized, one holy church we rise

[00:40:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Please stand and sing with us.

[00:40:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
O glory to the Father now, O honor to the Son.
[00:40:58] And praise the Spirit now and always, this is the God we love.
[00:41:18] All glory to the Father now, all honor to the Son.
[00:41:23] The Spirit now and always This is the God we love This is the God we love Now we wait to be resurrected
[00:41:52] And we look for the world without end This is our creed, our faith, our anthem This is the God we love This is the God we love
[00:42:25] Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
[00:42:45] Praise Him all creatures here below.
[00:42:45] Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts.
[00:42:47] Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
You may be seated.
[00:43:08] If you're second grade and younger, you're welcome to stay with us for the message in
[00:43:15] like honestly we have loved having you with us to this point you're welcome to stay with us during this time and you are welcome at all times because we believe that the church is believers together with their children and so you're welcome as children you're welcome with your wiggles you're welcome with your questions and your whispers and your cries you are welcome and we're glad that you are here but if you and your parents agree as you have already done you can be dismissed through that door for kids worship
[00:43:46] And you'll come back and rejoin us as we're responding to God's word in song.
[00:43:53] We're going to be in the very last book of the Bible, Revelation.
[00:43:58] Revelation chapter 4.
[00:43:59] Revelation chapter 4.
[00:44:04] American pastor and author A.W.
[00:44:10] Tozer famously wrote this.
[00:44:14] What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
[00:44:24] What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
[00:44:30] Similarly, British pastor Charles Spurgeon said, The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls Father.
[00:44:59] If those quotes are true, and I believe that they are given that God has intentionally revealed himself to us both in creation and in scripture.
[00:45:11] If they're true, then the creeds and confessions of the church throughout history are really important.
[00:45:21] If what and how we think about God matters,
[00:45:26] The creeds and confessions, the true creeds and confessions help us think about God as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures.
[00:45:35] They help us think true thoughts about the true God.
[00:45:42] And we embrace creeds and confessions.
[00:45:48] Our standards as an Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church are the Westminster standards, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the larger and the shorter catechisms.
[00:45:57] We believe that that is the best human summary of Christian theology that arises from the Scriptures alone in human history, so we agree with it.
[00:46:07] We confess together often the Apostles' Creed.
[00:46:12] We acknowledge that there are other good and helpful confessions out there.
[00:46:18] The three forms of unity that our Continental Reformed brothers and sisters use and many others that are true and faithful to the Scriptures.
[00:46:27] But among creeds and confessions in the history of the Church, one of the most ancient and certainly the most influential, widely used, and important is the Nicene Creed.
[00:46:40] Less than 300 years
[00:46:43] Less than 300 years after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, the world had been transformed by the gospel.
[00:46:53] The church was growing everywhere in the known world.
[00:46:58] And the Roman Empire, which had relentlessly and ruthlessly persecuted Christians for centuries, had become
[00:47:09] A Christian empire under the rule of Emperor Constantine.
[00:47:15] And around 300 years after, I'm sorry, less than 300 years after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, there was a talented and popular pastor and speaker and writer in Alexandria, Egypt.
[00:47:31] And he was thinking and teaching some thoughts about God that were in conflict with the witness of the apostles.
[00:47:39] His name was Arius.
[00:47:41] And his ideas were rapidly gaining influence in the church.
[00:47:45] And what was it that he was thinking and saying?
[00:47:49] Well, a lot of things.
[00:47:51] Some of them true and faithful to the Scriptures, but three main things that were not.
[00:47:58] One, because God the Son was begotten of God the Father, He had a beginning.
[00:48:07] that there was a time Arius would say that he was not that there was a time in eternity past that Jesus was not number two because God the Son was begotten and had a beginning therefore God the Son was a created being that he was made by God the Father and three
[00:48:34] Because God the Son, and by extension God the Spirit, had a beginning, we don't have a trinity of one God in three persons.
[00:48:44] We have a triad of unequal beings who are not the same in substance, nor equal in power and glory.
[00:48:54] These untrue ideas about God were gaining traction and causing controversy in the church and they were threatening the purity and the peace and the prosperity and the unity of the church.
[00:49:07] And we don't know Constantine's motivations.
[00:49:11] Maybe it was spiritual concerns or maybe he was more afraid of political instability.
[00:49:16] But either way, in God's providence, the emperor of Rome called the church council to Nicaea in 325 AD, 1700 years ago this year.
[00:49:29] The task of 318 church leaders was to evaluate and rule on whether Arius' teaching was true or false.
[00:49:41] And Arius was there to promote his ideas and to defend them.
[00:49:45] And there was a faction present that was in agreement with Arius on those three major points.
[00:49:51] There was a group led by one particular church leader named Athanasius who were rigorously and totally opposed to Arius.
[00:50:01] But historically we know that most of the presbyters were in the middle, open to persuasion by either side.
[00:50:09] The debate was rigorous and at times rough.
[00:50:13] One story which is almost certainly a legend tells us that St. Nicholas of Myra, yes, that St. Nicholas, was so irritated by what Arius was saying about Jesus that he walked down and slapped him in the face.
[00:50:28] That's my Santa Claus.
[00:50:32] Probably didn't happen, still a fun story.
[00:50:36] In the end, thanks be to God, Arius lost the debate.
[00:50:43] His ideas, which were not faithful to the scriptures or the apostolic witness, were condemned as false teaching, as heresy, and the church got a beautiful, lasting gift in the summary of what Christians believe that we know as the Nicene Creed.
[00:51:03] Now the version that we confessed this morning, the version that we always confess, had a couple of important revisions at subsequent church councils, but the substance
[00:51:13] of the Nicene Creed has been held by all Christians in all places for 1700 years.
[00:51:21] It helps us think true thoughts about God and we're going to do that together this month between now and the beginning of Advent.
[00:51:30] Now, sometimes church people will make a false dichotomy between the theological and the practical.
[00:51:45] But if what comes into your mind when you think about God is one of the most important things about you then it is undeniably practical for you to spend time thinking about God.
[00:51:59] To meditate on the truth and to know why we believe what we believe.
[00:52:05] I can promise you right now that no one in this room including the person who supposedly does it for a job spends enough time thinking about God.
[00:52:16] Spurgeon also reminds us of some very practical benefits.
[00:52:23] Thinking about God humbles us because His inexhaustible immensity reminds us that we are small, infinitesimally small, and that we'll never know a fraction of all there is to know about God.
[00:52:45] Y'all, one of the reasons that the new heavens and the new earth are going to be so glorious is that we are going to spend that one eternal day continually learning more and more and more about the glory of the God who is.
[00:53:01] Thinking about God humbles us.
[00:53:04] It grows us because it challenges us and it expands our hearts and our minds and our souls and it calls us to reach beyond our capacity.
[00:53:14] As one of my theology professors who was Dutch would say, all that God is cannot fit into our little pea brain.
[00:53:23] But as I try to think about all that God is, my mind and my heart and my soul reaches and expands.
[00:53:35] Really practically important for people who live in a fallen world where suffering and sorrow are our constant reality.
[00:53:46] Thinking about God comforts us.
[00:53:49] I'm just going to read Spurgeon's words.
[00:53:52] Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound.
[00:54:00] and Musing on the Father, a quietus for every grief.
[00:54:05] In the influence of the Holy Spirit, a balsam for every sore.
[00:54:11] Would you lose your sorrow?
[00:54:13] Would you drown your cares?
[00:54:16] Then go, plunge yourself into the Godhead's deepest sea.
[00:54:23] Be lost in its immensity, and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated.
[00:54:31] I know nothing which can so comfort the soul.
[00:54:37] So let's think together about God, beginning with God the Father.
[00:54:43] The Nicene Creed begins, We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible,
[00:54:53] and Invisible.
[00:54:55] Now nine of the ten times the New Testament uses the word Almighty for God are found in the book of Revelation.
[00:55:05] So that's where we're going to go.
[00:55:05] Revelation chapter 4.
[00:55:08] I know it's been a long time but if you're able please stand in honor of God's word.
[00:55:11] We're going to read the whole chapter.
[00:55:17] This is the Apostle John writing
[00:55:20] A vision that he has received from the Lord Jesus, the risen and ascended Lord Jesus.
[00:55:27] After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.
[00:55:32] And the first voice which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.
[00:55:40] At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.
[00:55:46] And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.
[00:55:54] Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.
[00:56:02] From the throne came flashes of lightning and rumbles, peals of thunder.
[00:56:07] And before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God.
[00:56:13] And before their throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass, like crystal.
[00:56:19] and around the throne on each side of the throne are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind the first living creature like a lion the second living creature like an ox the third living creature with the face of a man and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight
[00:56:33] And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.
[00:56:50] And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.
[00:57:03] They cast down their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.
[00:57:18] The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our Lord endures forever.
[00:57:22] Let's go to the Lord together in prayer.
[00:57:27] Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
[00:57:43] Amen.
[00:57:44] You may be seated.
[00:57:48] The passage that we just read is the Apostle John's vision of invisible creation, of heaven and of the throne room and the 24 elders, more than likely representing God's people in the Old Testament and the New Testament, the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles, the four living creatures.
[00:58:14] The next chapter tells us that there are angels as well, things that are
[00:58:19] Oh, so real and yet invisible to our eyes.
[00:58:27] And the one who is seated on the throne, the one who is seated on the throne is undeniably presented to us as God the Father.
[00:58:36] God the Spirit is present.
[00:58:39] And represented by the seven burning torches before the throne, it says, yes, the seven spirits of God or the sevenfold spirit.
[00:58:46] That's not to say that there are seven Holy Spirits.
[00:58:48] That's to say that the one Holy Spirit is perfect, complete, the number of completion, the number seven.
[00:58:58] In the next chapter we will see God the Son, the Lamb who is worthy to take the scroll of God's plan of redemption for the ages, to break its seals and to open the scroll.
[00:59:09] So on the throne and receiving worship in Revelation chapter 4 is God the Father.
[00:59:16] And these heavenly beings declare at least three truths about Him that we confess in the Nicene Creed.
[00:59:24] Three truths that we confess in the Creed that are also confessed by these heavenly beings implicitly or explicitly.
[00:59:30] The first is this, that He is One.
[00:59:34] He is One.
[00:59:37] Holy, Holy, Holy is Thee, Lord God Almighty.
[00:59:44] Worthy are You, our Lord and God.
[00:59:47] The earliest Creed of God's people was known as the Shema.
[00:59:53] And God's people, God's Jewish people would confess this on a daily basis.
[00:59:58] Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
[01:00:05] There is only one God.
[01:00:09] This claim was unique and it was revolutionary in the ancient world in which God gave to his Old Testament people the Shema.
[01:00:18] And it was unique and it was revolutionary in the Roman world.
[01:00:23] The world of the Nicene Creed.
[01:00:27] In both places there was a pantheon of gods.
[01:00:31] And this declaration that there is one God, that the Lord our God is one, was a rebuke to polytheistic religion.
[01:00:43] There is only one God.
[01:00:47] What we are also confessing when we say we believe in one God, the Father Almighty, is that the Father, God the Father, is fully God.
[01:01:00] The Creed confesses one God in three persons.
[01:01:08] We need to be incredibly crystal clear that we do not have one God in three thirds.
[01:01:17] We do not have one God in three parts.
[01:01:20] We have one God in three persons and therefore each person beginning with the Father is fully and completely God as God is one in essence eternally united.
[01:01:33] There is only one God.
[01:01:37] God the Father is fully God.
[01:01:42] And the Father
[01:01:46] is one God with the Son and the Spirit.
[01:01:53] Because God is one in substance and three in persons, eternally united, we confess one God, the Father.
[01:02:04] But if you go down very, very shortly thereafter, we confess one God, the Father.
[01:02:10] We also confess one Lord Jesus Christ.
[01:02:12] And if you go down all the way almost to the end, we confess
[01:02:18] The Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life.
[01:02:24] What is said in Revelation 4 is said about the Father on the throne.
[01:02:30] But if it is said of the Father because he is one God in three persons, it is also said and equally said of the Son and the Spirit, one God in three persons, distinct and eternally united.
[01:02:44] He is one.
[01:02:46] Two.
[01:02:49] He is Almighty.
[01:02:52] Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.
[01:02:58] We confess that our Lord and our God is before all things.
[01:03:05] He was.
[01:03:08] He was and is and is to come.
[01:03:10] He was.
[01:03:13] That means that he exists independently of anything else.
[01:03:17] He exists in and of his own almighty being and power.
[01:03:24] We confess not only that he was, but that he is.
[01:03:28] He is before all things and He is over all things.
[01:03:33] He is the sovereign King of all creation and nothing is outside His omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent rule.
[01:03:43] Nothing, including us, exists apart from Him.
[01:03:47] He was and is and He is to come.
[01:03:53] We confess
[01:03:55] that God the Father is almighty that he was before all things that he is over all things and that he is redeeming all things that he is to come his arm is not too short to save the creation that has fallen under the curse but in his almighty power he will have eternity to come with all creation reconciled to himself through our Lord Jesus Christ he is one he is almighty thirdly
[01:04:24] We confess together that He is Maker.
[01:04:30] Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.
[01:04:40] Our one God, the Father Almighty, is the maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
[01:04:47] We get this glimpse into God's invisible creation in heaven where these fearsome creatures and these glorious elders are proclaiming the Father's worthiness.
[01:04:57] On what basis?
[01:04:59] They're proclaiming the Father's worthiness to receive all of our worship and all of our adoration and all that we are.
[01:05:08] because of his making all things.
[01:05:11] God is worthy of your worship and your life and your all.
[01:05:15] Why?
[01:05:16] Because he made you.
[01:05:19] We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible.
[01:05:28] He is one.
[01:05:29] He is almighty.
[01:05:31] He is maker.
[01:05:31] But the most essential thing
[01:05:39] that we confess in the creed is not found explicitly in this passage but it is implicit in this passage and it is implicit or explicit in every page of scripture and it is this he is father he is father
[01:06:04] It's natural for us to wonder, particularly when we're kids, when we are, I don't know, not intimidated to ask big questions, to think about what was God doing before the creation of the world?
[01:06:21] I heard one pastor say, well, he was making hell for people who would ask that question.
[01:06:27] Joke.
[01:06:32] The heavenly beings call us to worship God the Father as the Almighty on the basis of His creating.
[01:06:43] You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.
[01:06:51] But God was God before He was Maker.
[01:06:59] So what was and is our God?
[01:07:04] He was and is Father.
[01:07:09] In John 17, the night before the cross, Jesus has snuck away from his apostles who he told to watch and pray and they promptly fell asleep, which we would also have done.
[01:07:23] And he's talking to his Father.
[01:07:26] And he asks that through his redeeming work on the cross, his apostles would be with him in heaven and see his glory.
[01:07:35] And he says this, Father, you loved me before the foundation of the world.
[01:07:45] Before God made anything.
[01:07:50] He was one God in three persons.
[01:07:52] The person of the Father loving the person of the Son and the person of the Spirit.
[01:07:59] The person of the Son and the person of the Spirit loving the person of the Father and one another infinitely and eternally and unchangeably.
[01:08:07] The same Apostle John who wrote the book of Revelation who received this vision from Jesus tells us in one of his letters in 1 John that God is love.
[01:08:20] I'm going to say it in the King James because that's how I memorized it.
[01:08:23] Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knows God.
[01:08:33] He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.
[01:08:41] God is love.
[01:08:44] And this is why
[01:08:46] The one true and living God must, must, must be triune.
[01:08:55] God could not be love if there was no one to love.
[01:08:59] But if the one true God is Father,
[01:09:03] Eternally bursting out with life and love and eternally begetting the Son with the Spirit proceeding from Father and Son, then and only then does it make sense to say something as outrageous as God is love.
[01:09:22] For instance, in the Islamic faith, which claims, like Christianity, to be monotheistic,
[01:09:32] To believe in only one God.
[01:09:35] We are told that God, Allah, has 99 names.
[01:09:40] That one of those names is the loving.
[01:09:45] But Allah is not one God in three persons.
[01:09:48] He is one God in one person.
[01:09:52] And therefore He could not have loved before He created because there was no one for Him to love.
[01:09:59] This makes Allah dependent on His creation to be something, to have an attribute which makes Him not almighty.
[01:10:07] It means that His love is not essential to His nature and He can never, ever be known as Father.
[01:10:15] Our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[01:10:22] Three in one means that God the Father has been
[01:10:26] is, was, and is, and is to come always Father.
[01:10:34] The God the Father Almighty is Father to one Lord Jesus Christ.
[01:10:41] He is love.
[01:10:42] He is Father.
[01:10:44] And that essential love bursting forth from the Father cascades, Michael Reeves writes, like a waterfall of love in the sending of the sun.
[01:10:56] To redeem the wayward children of Adam and Eve through His righteous life and His atoning death and His victorious resurrection, the scriptures tell us, for God so loved the world.
[01:11:14] For God the Father so loved the world that He gave His only Son.
[01:11:24] To live for us, to die for us, to rise again for us, to ascend to the Father's right hand where He never stops interceding for us, to come again to wipe every tear from our eyes, our Lord and our Christ, God the Father so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him, whoever receives and rests in Him alone for salvation,
[01:11:50] Shall not perish.
[01:11:51] You shall not get what your sins deserve.
[01:11:54] You shall not receive the condemnation that you have earned, but will have what?
[01:11:59] Eternal life.
[01:12:01] We will share in the life of God who is Father.
[01:12:08] God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life.
[01:12:14] He did this so that we may know Him as Father, so that we might be His children.
[01:12:22] My grandfather, my mom's dad, I called him Papa, he loved to sing.
[01:12:30] Like me, he probably wasn't the best singer, but he sure didn't lack for volume.
[01:12:38] And one of the things that he loved to sing around his house has stuck with me all my life.
[01:12:47] And it's 1 John 3, verse 1.
[01:12:53] I'm not going to sing it, so you'll be okay.
[01:12:58] Behold, what manner of love!
[01:13:03] The Father has given to us that we should be called children of God.
[01:13:11] And so we are.
[01:13:16] If you know that God the Father so loved you that He sent His only Son so that believing in Him you might not perish but might have eternal life, then God has prepared a table before you
[01:13:34] A place where you can come and rehearse and remember and proclaim and partake of what God the Father has done for us in God the Son by the power of God the Spirit.
[01:13:51] He calls us to come to this table to feed on Him and to fellowship with Him.
[01:13:59] If you are His, then this is for you.
[01:14:04] And if today you're not yet someone who knows God, maybe you're curious and that's why you're here.
[01:14:12] We're so glad that you are with us.
[01:14:16] Maybe you've been pretending all your life because you go to church because that's what you do, because that's what your parents taught you to do.
[01:14:23] You don't have a living relationship with God.
[01:14:25] Again, we're so glad that you are here.
[01:14:28] Maybe right now you're far from God and someone forced you to come.
[01:14:32] And we're still really glad that you're here.
[01:14:35] But if you belong to any of those categories, we'd ask you not to partake of these elements as we pass them out.
[01:14:42] And we do so out of love for you and respect.
[01:14:47] Our scriptures tell us that those who partake of these elements of this covenant meal apart from a covenant relationship with God, apart from faith in Jesus Christ,
[01:14:57] They eat and drink condemnation on themselves.
[01:14:59] And our desire for you is not condemnation.
[01:15:02] Quite the opposite.
[01:15:03] We want salvation.
[01:15:04] We want reconciliation with God.
[01:15:06] We want the forgiveness of your sins.
[01:15:08] We want the freedom of the children of God.
[01:15:10] And so we would say, please don't take this supper today, but please cry out to God in the name of Jesus.
[01:15:16] The scriptures tell us that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
[01:15:20] If you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
[01:15:31] I want to reiterate, if you belong to Christ, you come, you fellowship with him, and you feed on him.
[01:15:40] Let's pray and ask the Lord's blessing on our time together around this table.
[01:15:43] Lord Jesus, we thank you that in you we can see fully and beautifully and powerfully the love of God the Father.
[01:16:01] In your body, given for us on the cross, your blood shed for us for the remission of sins, in your glorious resurrection, and Lord, your promised return.
[01:16:22] As we come to your table, Lord, we ask that you would help us come having examined ourselves, having recognized, Lord, that we're unworthy to be here.
[01:16:29] We don't belong here.
[01:16:32] Not in and of ourselves, but in Christ, we have been qualified, we have been adopted, we have been renamed, and we are welcome.
[01:16:46] And so, Lord, I pray that you would forgive us of our sins, that you would receive us now at your table.
[01:16:51] And that, Lord, as we partake of these elements, bread and the fruit of the vine that will remain what they are as we partake of them, Lord, that you would allow those of us who are partaking in faith to truly and spiritually feed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
[01:17:04] We need him so desperately.
[01:17:09] Lord, I pray that this table, that the gospel that it proclaims would be a witness to those in this room who do not yet know you and to the world that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord.
[01:17:22] That God the Father is One, that He is Almighty, that He is Maker, and that He is Father.
[01:17:32] Lord, I pray that today, in this supper,
[01:17:36] You would allow us to have a renewed sense of your fatherhood over us and your delight in us, your children, through Jesus our Lord.
[01:17:47] And it's in his name that we pray.
[01:17:49] Amen.
[01:17:52] This table is not Bat Creek Church's table.
[01:17:55] It's not a Presbyterian table.
[01:17:56] This is the Lord's table.
[01:17:57] And so if you have publicly professed your faith in Jesus Christ, then you are welcome to come and to partake.
[01:18:07] On the night that he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks as we have just done in his name, he broke it.
[01:18:15] And he gave it to his disciples and said, This is my body, given for you.
[01:18:20] Do this in remembrance of me.

[01:18:36] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[01:19:08] Let us pray.
[01:19:36] Let us pray.

[01:19:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Let us pray.

[01:19:57] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[01:20:23] Let us pray.
[01:20:43] Let us pray.
[01:21:04] Let us pray.
[01:21:32] Let us pray.
[01:21:33] Let us pray.

[01:22:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
In the same manner after the supper, the Lord Jesus took the cup.
[01:22:29] He said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for many for the remission of sins.
[01:22:35] Do this in remembrance of me.
[01:22:37] The Apostle Paul tells us as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

[01:23:00] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:23:22] Amen.
[01:24:14] Let us pray.
[01:24:37] Let us pray.
[01:24:42] Let us pray.
[01:25:11] Let us pray.
[01:25:12] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:25:38] Amen.

[01:25:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
All we like sheep have gone astray.
[01:25:57] We have turned every one to his own way.
[01:26:01] The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
[01:26:06] And this is love.
[01:26:08] Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and gave His only Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
[01:26:16] God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God, the blood of Christ shed for you.
[01:26:28] Drink of it.
[01:26:35] Let's give thanks.
[01:26:38] Our Lord and our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and worship.
[01:26:48] Yes, because You are Creator.
[01:26:51] Yes, because You are Redeemer.
[01:26:55] Our Father, we thank You that You sent Your Son.
[01:26:59] Lord Jesus, we thank You that You redeemed us and sent us Your Spirit.
[01:27:06] We ask now that you will take your word, visible, tangible to us in this supper and use it to conform us to your image by your Spirit and for the glory of the Father we pray.
[01:27:22] Amen.
[01:27:24] Let's stand together and respond to word and sacrament in song.

[01:27:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
How deep the Father's love for us How vast beyond all measure That He should give His holy Son To make a wretch His treasure

[01:28:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
The Father turns His face away, as wounds which mar the Chosen One, bring many sons to Him.
[01:28:42] Behold the man upon the cross My sins upon his shoulders Ashamed I hear my mocking voice Call out among the scoffers It was my sin that held him there
[01:29:10] The Gospel of the Lord.
[01:29:38] I will not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom But I will boast in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection Why should I think of His remembrance?
[01:30:08] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:30:32] Amen.

[01:30:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Thank you so much for gathering with us for worship today.
[01:30:48] If you belong to Christ, then you go out into the world with God's blessings.
[01:30:52] So lift up your heads and your hands and your hearts and receive now the benediction of the Lord our God.
[01:30:56] The Lord bless you and keep you.
[01:30:59] The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
[01:31:02] The Lord lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace now and forevermore.
[01:31:07] And all God's people said, Amen.

[01:31:13] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
... ... ... ...
[01:31:40] Let's pray.
[01:32:07] Let's pray.
[01:32:30] Let's pray.
[01:32:46] Hello, everybody.
[01:33:10] Thank you.

[01:33:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Let's pray.
[01:33:38] Yeah, right.
[01:33:58] No, we got back on the floor.
[01:33:59] He, uh, he teed off it.
[01:33:59] He teed it off.
[01:34:00] So he was done.
[01:34:00] It was, it took a little bit of work.
[01:34:01] He was done by about one minute.
[01:34:02] He was a nice kid.
[01:34:02] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[01:34:02] He struggled a little bit.
[01:34:03] He shot eight and nine.
[01:34:03] The other kid, the other kid probably shot eight and nine.
[01:34:04] There was a guy back there.
[01:34:06] This guy, I mean, I've seen him.
[01:34:28] I never think he even played golf.
[01:34:29] I mean, older, like, the other two guys, the guys he was playing with, had vision issues.

[01:34:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Like, his padding was winding him up on every shot.

[01:34:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Yep, take this part and move it a little bit.
[01:34:33] I mean, how are you doing in two?
[01:34:33] I don't know what ended up doing it, but I'll bet it was.
[01:34:34] It was insane.
[01:34:35] That's insane, man.
[01:34:36] It was so great that when he was walking around, he couldn't do the two.
[01:34:55] Because he couldn't see the two.

[01:34:56] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
He couldn't see the two at the time.

[01:34:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
So, and even the foot, I don't want to go up there.
[01:34:57] I don't want to go up there.
[01:34:58] I don't want to go up there.
[01:34:59] I don't want to go up there.
[01:35:02] All right, let's go find that package.
[01:35:30] ... ... ... ...
[01:35:58] ... ... ... ...

[01:36:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]:
I know.

[01:36:39] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
I'm trying to get over.
[01:36:40] Yeah, I know how to do it.
[01:36:40] Thank you.