The Compassionate Hear of the Lord

Invocation

We will extol you, our God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day we will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, we will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and we will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, and the Holy Spirit, world without end, and amen.

New Testament Lesson

Hebrews 12 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. 18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Pastoral Prayer

(John Calvin) Grant, Almighty God, that as you constantly remind us in your word, and have taught us by so many examples, that there is nothing permanent in this world, but that the things which seem the firmest tend to ruin, and instantly fall and of themselves vanish away, when by your breath you shake your strength in which men trust—O grant that we, being really subdued and humbled, may not rely on earthly things, but raise up our hearts and our thoughts to heaven, and there fix the anchor of our hope; and may all our thoughts abide there until at length, when you have led us through our course on earth, we shall be gathered into that celestial kingdom which has been obtained for us by the blood of your only begotten Son. Until then, teach us to rest and trust in you.

To see your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Families of Hope

Missions of Hope

Anees Zaka - Church without Walls

Tim & Katyln (Trip) - Bridge Community in Easton PA

Nation (president, etc.)

For our daily bread.

For forgiveness of sins

For deliverance from our enemies, the World, the flesh, and the devil.

Including deliverance from sickness:

Michael Scott Gentner (Juliana’s brother) motorcycle accident

Receive the Word.

Intro

Imagine with me a father who loved his son very much. But the son had gotten himself into a heap of trouble, which he could not get himself out of. Out of love, the father bailed him out and provided money, a house, a job, and advice to avoid future trouble. But the son didn't listen, even to the father's repeated warnings. But because the father loved his son, he couldn't sit back and do nothing. And so, h had a plan. Enough was enough, and he threw him out of his house. But he disciplined his son in this way so that one day he could bring him back home. From the son’s perspective, his father’s anger seemed excessive in response to his rule-breaking. Nevertheless, from an external standpoint, it was obvious that the father truly cared for his son and desired his happiness, even though the son deserved more severe punishment.

That is the story we see play out in our text this morning. It's the story of Israel and God, and of Adam and God before that. It's the story of the prodigal son and it's the story of each one of us. It's a story of a rebellious son, a father's anger, and the discipline that removed him from his house and inheritance. But it's also a story of redemption, of a father's compassionate heart, who disciplines his son so that he can restore him to a greater place of glory than he had before. As we read through this text from Hosea 11, I want you to keep this question in mind: How does the Lord show you His character? The Lord shows you His character by redeeming you, by disciplining you, and by restoring you.

Hosea 11:1-11

By Redeeming You

The story begins with the love of God towards Israel on full display in delivering her from bondage in Egypt. The Lord sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his son go so that he could worship him. For Israel had been groaning to the Lord over the misery of their slavery in Egypt and he heard their cry and because he loved them 'called them out of Egypt.' You would think after such a great deliverance Israel would have stayed true to the Lord, but she did not. Even before she received the promised inheritance, Israel proved the condition of her heart. Like a rebellious son, Israel 'abused' the grace and mercy of the Lord by turning from him to worship other gods. Like a spoiled, entitled brat, Israel trampled on the indicatives of the gospel.

Israel rebelled against the indicatives of the gospel by abusing the imperatives. The Lord had commanded, 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.'" (Ex. 20:2-3). Notice the end of v. 1. They were not true to the Lord alone. And in v. 7 Israel is 'bent' on turning away from the Lord. And in v. 5 they refuse to repent, even after repeated calls (v. 2). Despite all that the Lord had done for them (indicative) Israel refused to remain faithful to the Lord.

We are living in a time of great apostasy in the evangelical church. Just like Israel, we are rebelling against the indicatives of the gospel by abusing the imperatives. How has the church done this today? While the church may not be going around to different altars of Baal, and committing sexual immorality as part of corporate worship. For we have found much more sophisticated ways to break the law of God.

But in reality, we do something quite similar when we turn worship on the Lord’s day into an entertainment spectacle. With performances by a band and professional motivational speaker, the church in much of evangelicalism has morphed into a temple for consumption. Or even worse, when we relativize the ethical imperatives of the scripture by making them the product of an outdated era. That was good for them, but we know better now. Paul obviously was a male chauvinist when he prohibited women from being pastors and elders, and clearly also a homophobe. We know now that God is fine with homosexuality as long as they are two consenting adults in a loving, committed relationship. And so many many evangelicals make ship-wreak of their faith by abusing the gospel.

Oh, we love the gospel indicatives, what God has done in Christ to save us from sin; we whole-heartedly want him to relieve us of guilt and shame, but we would prefer he did that while allowing us to keep our sin. We are gospel-abusing sinners when we trade the truth of God’s word for a lie, when we worship the creature rather than the creator, and when we say I’ll take Jesus, but not the radical call of discipleship where he bids you take up your cross, die to sin, and follow him.

The Lord shows his compassionate heart when he brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt, delivering them into the promised land. That was a type of the salvation he has brought to all who by faith look to Christ. For he has delivered you from the bondage of sin and death, assuring us that in the resurrection we will take possession of a new heaven and a new earth. But sadly, our response to this good news often mirrors Israel. But marvelously, the Lord continues to show us his character when, as a loving father, he disciplines your sin so that he may restore you to a better place of glory. So, how does the Lord show you his character? He redeems you. Out of Egypt I called my son…and out of sin and misery he has called you.

By Disciplining You

But “the more they were called, the more they went away” (v. 2). Here is the well-worn path to ruin we considered a few weeks ago. After repeated attempts to reform Israel, by sending his prophets over and over and over again, to call them to return to him and remain faithful. But they would not listen. Proverbs 29:1 (ESV) — 1 “He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.” Repeated sin has a way of hardening the heart, as Paul describes, it sears the conscience. Like a hot iron used to cauterize a wound, and the resulting scar tissue is desensitized, so too with repeated sin is the conscience wounded and scared over so that it no longer grieves or has remorse for sin. And that is the current state of Israel.

There is a wordplay in v. 5 that is missing from the ESV. Essentially, I would translate it this way: Israel shall return to Egypt, Assyria shall be their king, because they refused to return to me. Do you see that? It is book ended with return. Flipping it may help: Because Israel will not return to me, Israel will return to Egypt. The Lord is saying for her refusal to repent Israel will have a reverse of the exodus, and be driven from the promised land into exile. The parallelism of Egypt with Assyria is designed to draw our attention to this connection between exile and exodus.

But wait a second, I thought the Lord was showing us his compassionate character? Isn’t God love? God is love, but love is not God. God is more than his attribute of love. He is also holy, and he is righteous.

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation. (Ex. 34:6-7).

So the Lord is indeed compassionate, but he will by no means clear the guilty. And consider this, from the time that Israel was divided into Northern and Southern Kingdoms until Assyria came and laid waste to the northern ten tribes, dragging them into exile was a little over 200 years. And from the Exodus until the exile of Israel was almost seven hundred years, and over eight hundred years for the southern Judah. I would say that the Lord was indeed slow to anger, giving ample time for Israel to repent.

But the Lord is not an indulgent father who, out of laziness or inconvenience, refuses to discipline his Son. First off, he can’t do that. It would contravene the nature of God, not only in his holiness but also in his righteousness (justice). In His holiness, the Lord cannot abide with sinful men, he would consume them in his holiness. And His righteousness compels him to seek justice, judging the wicked with the fierceness of His wrath.

When you scrub God of wrath and anger, you are not left with a kinder, gentler god; you are left with no god at all. As evidence, look at the nonsense that currently goes for worship and theology in the mainline churches. So much of the turmoil and angst in society today comes from the strong desire for justice. But without wrath, there is no justice.

And so, Israel is being warned that the sword of God’s wrath is coming. Because of her persistent unrepentant sin, she will be disciplined. Again, keep in mind the context for this is the redemption he accomplished for Israel in the exodus. Notice the love and compassion in v. 3-4. The Lord is a father, training a child to walk and leading him along towards faithfulness. But as all good fathers must do, in order to have an obedient son who respects your authority and will love and honor you, you must discipline them. Often, that means taking them aside and bending them over your knee for a spanking. Discipline like that is not done in anger, but in love.

So when the Lord as a Father disciplines his Son Israel, He is teaching Israel both the heinousness of sin, the nature of holiness, and the meaning of justice. But he does so for the purpose of restoring Israel to a right relationship with him; he does so because he loves Israel, and does not want to see Israel persist in sin. Just as any father would his son. If you don’t receive parental discipline, it does not mean that your parents love you more. It means you are a bastard, and they don’t care enough to take the time to see you develop character. So the author of Hebrews teaches us.

Hebrews 12:5–11 (ESV) — 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Parents, you are not loving your children by not disciplining them. Just the opposite. This whole “gentle-parenting” has unleashed on us the scourge of a younger generation with no regard for authority, no respect for their parents, or tradition, no sense of having to steward and inheritance. You get entitled brats, who are anxious, insecure, and incapable of doing the most basic things previous generations took for granted. I beg of you parents, love your children, show them the rod, in patience and humility teach them to respect and honor your authority, for your sake, for the sake of our congregation, and for the sake of our nation.

Reformation starts in the family, when fathers stop abdicating their role as patriarch, and start leading their families in godliness. First by beginning to embody it yourself, and then by insisting that your wife and children follow your example. And when you sin, repent, lead them in gentleness and humility, show them you also are a man under authority. Submit yourself to the Elders of the church, and to the civil magistrate, and to all those who wield authority over you. Teach them what submission looks like, not least in your submission to Christ. But don’t complain to me that your wife won’t submit to you when you go home and gripe every day about your boss, undermining his authority every chance you get. Everyone has a head, yours men is Christ. How dare you demand obedience when you refuse to follow Christ? You insist your children must obey you in all things, but do you model that kind of obedience to Christ? Or are you like Israel here, “the more he calls the more you go your own way.” I would warn you men, you will one day give an account before the living God, holy and righteous is he, for your stewardship of the family he has given you. Woe to you on that day if you have laid aside your duty because you were too tired, or Netflix was more important, for it would be better for you if you hung a big ole rock around your neck and drown yourself in the sea, rather than make one of these little ones sin.

And Children. Look at me, children, and listen to me. Obey your parents in all things. Remember that the bible commands you to honor your mother and father, and remember also that is the one command that comes with a promise. If you do, you will have a long life. That means if Mom or Dad tell you to do something, you obey them right away. You don’t hem and hah, O mom, I don’t want to do that right now. Nor does it mean that you talk back. You say yes, ma'am, or yes, sir, and you move out and do what they say. That same respect and honor you show mom and dad, you also need to show every adult that comes into your life, and especially here in the church. Freedom is not found in disobedience. Freedom is found when you obey, freedom and privilege. If you don’t honor your mother and father, then chances are you will not honor God either. Then the outcome of your life will be the same as Israel—discipline.

So, how does the Lord show you his character? By disciplining you. Because of his holiness, righteousness, and for His people, His love, He disciplines every son so that he can restore you to a greater place of glory. He does not take sin lightly and neither should you. If you are his legitimate child, then he will bend you under His rod to bring you into conformity with his holy and righteous standards. The Lord shows you His character by redeeming you from sin, and when you need it, he shows you his character by disciplining you for sin.

By Restoring You

But, discipline is always for the purpose of restoring the person to an elevated place of blessing. Notice v. 8-9:

Hosea 11:8–9 (ESV) — 8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. 9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

Admah and Zeboiim were cities that the Lord utterly destroyed, along with Sodom and Gomorrah for their rampant wickedness. The Lord’s great compassion causes his heart to grow warm towards Israel. Even though the Lord’s Son has been unfaithful, he still loves him, and so His discipline is not meant to bring him to an utter end.

If you are a child of God, you must not get it in your head that if the Lord disciplines you, it’s because he hates you and wants to destroy you. That is one of Satan’s most potent lies. While suffering that attends the discipline is never pleasant, it always comes from the hand of a loving father, and in the end yields the fruit of righteousness.

Now, some of you did not have loving fathers. And when you were disciplined by them, it was out of anger, and it often had little rhyme or reason why or when it was coming. You just developed the habit of getting out of the way, or making yourself scarce. For you, hearing that God is a Father who disciplines you, does not bring you comfort. It brings you dread and apprehension. If you’re not careful, you will identify God, your heavenly father, with your earthly father, and that’s not good. Even the best of earthly fathers will fail you and won’t always set a godly example for you. You must resist that and listen to how scripture describes your heavenly father.

Even as Israel has tried his patience and is reaping the just reward for their unfaithfulness, the heart of the Lord still goes out to them. One of my favorite puritans wrote a treatise entitled, The Heart of Christ in Heaven Towards Sinners on Earth. As he begins that treatise, he anticipates a concern many Christians have that Christ may not be so favorable to them as he may have been when he was here upon the earth. Goodwin says,

The drift of this discourse is therefore to ascertain poor souls, that his heart, in respect of pity and compassion, remains the same it was on earth; that he intercedes there with the same heart he did here below; and that he is as meek, as gentle, as easy to be entreated, as tender in his bowels; so that they may deal with him as fairly about the great matter of their salvation, and as hopefully, and upon as easy terms to obtain it of him, as they might if they had been on earth with him, and be as familiar with him in all their needs—than which nothing can be more for the comfort and encouragement of those who have given over all other lives but that of faith, and whose souls pursue after strong and entire communion with their Saviour Christ.[^1]

I would commend that treatise, which Banner has reprinted as a puritan paperback, or can be found widely online as a PDF for free. In fact, if you have ever struggled with assurance, I would commend that work. In typical puritan fashion, Goodwin looks exhaustively at scriptures to show that Christ’s heart is, as we see here in Hosea, filled with compassion, warm and tender.

You may say yes, I know that intellectually, but its convincing my heart of that truth that is most difficult. I understand, assurance is a gift sometimes hard-won. We must wrestle with God to lay hold of his promises. And one of the best ways to do that is to meditate on verses such as 8-9. There we see that the Lord’s purposes in discipline are not our destruction, but our restoration.

There is a scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which captures well this restoration. The children are with Mr. & Mrs. Beaver trying to make sense of their situation.

“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan. “Aslan?” said Mr. Beaver. “Why, don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand. Never in my time or my father’s time. But the word has reached us that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment. He’ll settle the White Queen all right. It is he, not you, that will save Mr. Tumnus.” “She won’t turn him into stone too?” said Edmund. “Lord love you, Son of Adam, what a simple thing to say!” answered Mr. Beaver with a great laugh. “Turn him into stone? If she can stand on her two feet and look him in the face it’ll be the most she can do and more than I expect of her. No, no. He’ll put all to rights as it says in an old rhyme in these parts: Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.You’ll understand when you see him.”

“He will roar like a lion; and when he roars, his children shall come trembling from Egypt…” Lewis, throughout The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, captures well the roar of Aslan, its fierceness, which scares everyone, but also in a strange way it is comforting.

“Is—is he a man?” asked Lucy. “Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” “That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.” “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Here the Lord promises Israel that the end of His discipline will be their return from exile in a new exodus. And that will mean their salvation.

Matthew in His gospel belabors the point that Jesus recapitulates the story of Adam/Israel. He is tempted in the wilderness just as Israel was, yet he withstood the temptation, and remained faithful to His father. But even before that episode, when still a child, he and the Holy family had fled Herod’s wrath, sojourning an exile in Egypt. When things were safe for them to return, Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1 saying, “out of Egypt I called my Son.” It’s clear from the context here in Hosea, that the prophet is referring to Israel in the exodus, but what Matthew does, is show that even that event was pointing beyond itself to something deeper, to something greater. It pointed to a story that looked similar. A Son, a Father, and the call to be faithful, but unlike Israel, unlike Adam, Jesus remained faithful. He was a Son who proved his love for His father through his obedience, a Son who did not need the discipline of His father.

But in a strange turn-of-events, Jesus changed the storyline when he offered up his innocent life as a ransom for ruined, guilty, unfaithful, wayward Israel, to be disciplined in their place. Jesus said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Jesus roared on the cross, and his people came trembling to him from the four corners of the earth. Satan, as the Witch did in Narnia, had thought this meant the end of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But when Lucy and Susan are puzzled to find, Aslan alive and the stone broken in two, Aslan explains.

“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward. And now—”

And so it is with the resurrection of Christ. “And now,” said Aslan presently, “to business. I feel I am going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears.” So too, has Christ roared, and the sound still reverberates, calling all the sons of Adam to come and find their promised salvation, the restoration of all things in Him.

He roars and says dear saint, I would never give you up. I would never hand you over, or make you like Admah, or treat you like Zeboiim. My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender. For the Lord has executed his burning anger on me, he has destroyed me in death, and I have turned away his wrath. So come, come and wash your sins away in my blood; come be clothed in My righteous deeds; Come, you who once were an unfaithful son, I have now restored you to a place of greater of glory. And My Father welcomes you. He has killed the fatted calf, he has clothed you in the finest robe, and put a ring on your finger; come enter into the joy of your inheritance, the restoration of all things.

So how does the Lord show you his character? He redeems you, by sending His son to take the discipline of eternal death, that you justly deserved, so that he could restore you to a place of greater glory as His sons. And throughout, His compassionate heart is on full display in your redemption, and even when he disciplines you, so that he can restore you. Amen.

Lord’s Supper Meditation

The Lord knows our frame, he knows we need constant reminders of His compassionate heart. For we are prone to grow weary under the rod of reproof; weary in our struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil; weary as we await the promised restoration. Life sometimes begins to feel like an exile that will never end. But the Lord gives us glimpses of the glory that is to come all the time. In the love and intimacy a husband and wife share, in the joy of watching your children grow up, in the beauty and wonder of His wide creation. Even as the world seems to descend deeper into chaos, the Lord still gives us these glimpses of glory that if we pay attention enable us to patiently endure until the Lord returns or calls us home.

And this meal is one of those glimpses of glory. For displayed for you int he simple elements of bread and wine is the staggering picture of the self-less suffering of the innocent Son of God. A good person may give up their life for their friend. But Jesus gave up his life for rebellious sons. Sons who had squandered their father’s inheritance and ruined their life in sin. It’s for them Jesus came to suffer and die, so that he may bring many sons to glory. Here in this meal Jesus reminds you, that he took away the sting of the Lord’s discipline in His death. He reminds you that although the Lord disciplines you, he will not utterly destroy like Admah or Zeboiim. Jesus in this meal says,

Matthew 11:28–30 (NASB 2020) — 28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”

So come, “The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” Come, and welcome to Jesus Christ.

Charge

The Lord shows you his character, his compassionate heart, by redeeming you, by discipling, and by restoring you to a greater place of glory. So you, with trembling and awe, return to the Lord and remain faithful. Amen.

Benediction

Jude 24–25 (ESV) — 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

[^1]: Goodwin, Thomas. The Works of Thomas Goodwin. Vol. 4. Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1862. Pg. 95-96.