Judgement is Come

- CALL TO WORSHIP -

Let us rise and worship the Triune God.

ADORATION

Minister: Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Congregation: And also to you.

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 72:17–19 “His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things! And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.” Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord!

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you have blessed us with every blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. We praise the glory of Your grace that chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him. We thank you that in love you predestinated us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. We rejoice that we have been sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance. Open the eyes of our hearts that we may know the hope of your calling, the riches of the glory of our inheritance and the surpassing greatness of your power toward us in Jesus Christ. All of this you brought about in Christ, when you raised Him from the dead and seated Him at your right hand in the heavenly places. Receive our bodies as living sacrifices,

Almighty God, as we worship you now through Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with You, and the Holy Spirit, One God, world without end, and Amen.

HYMN

Angels We Have Heard on High (573)

- CONFESSION -

Please sit.

EXHORTATION (Samuel Davidson)

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:3)

The Israelites were comfortable in their miserable slavery in Egypt and despised Moses who had come as their deliverer (Exodus 16:3, Acts 7:35). Similarly, the news of the birth of the Messiah was trouble and inconvenience to both Herod and all of Jerusalem. The scribes quoted Micah 5:2 accurately before Herod but none dared to follow the Magi to Bethlehem for fear of displeasing Herod. Yes, a spiritual king may have been born but the actual king was Herod, whose orders Jerusalem obeyed. They did not believe the promise of God, they did not believe an actual Messiah would come from heaven, even if they flattered God with their lips, waxing eloquent about Old Testament prophecy. They may have been singing many Old Testament Christmas carols (like Psalm 2 or Psalm 72) about the advent of the Messiah but they were not ready for Him when He actually came.

If God were to bring about a movement of the Holy Ghost in our midst, would you welcome Him with glad hearts or would you be troubled like all of Jerusalem? It is easy to pay lip service to God, claiming to desire Him and long for Him in generalities but when He does show up, would you be willing to give up whatever particular places and projects you have wrought for yourself and follow after His Spirit’s leading, no matter whose wrath it incurs. Will you be ashamed of Him and deny Him before men? I’m not saying that the Lord Jesus is going to return tomorrow morning. But if He did, would it make you excited and grateful or would it be a disappointment for you given all the things you had planned or would it jump you with terror because you know you have been living a life of procrastination and passivity and self indulgence? Are you just letting life happen to you? Or are you allowing the promise of his Second Advent drive you to holiness and much good works?

This reminds us of our need to confess our sins so let us prepare to do so as we sing..

PSALM

I Waited for the Lord (80)

CONFESSION OF SIN

So, as you are able please kneel in confession before God

Isaiah 45:15-16 “Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me; For I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am holy; You are my God; Save Your servant who trusts in You! Be merciful to me, O Lord, For I cry to You all day long.”

You have called Your church to truth in the inward parts, so we confess our individual sins to you now, Selah.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Please rise for the assurance of pardon! Isaiah 45:17 “But Israel shall be saved by the Lord With an everlasting salvation; You shall not be ashamed or disgraced Forever and ever.”

Christians, the good news is that God was for you, even when you were against. He didn’t ask your permission when He decided to save you. He has come and of the increase of His there will be no end. But He is content not just conquer kingdom and lands but also hearts. He comes to win your heart and your delight in Him. So, you may rejoice in your Maker for..

Minister: Your sins are forgiven through Christ. Congregation: Thanks be to God!

CONFESSION OF FAITH

Having confessed our sin, let us confess our common faith in the words of the Nicene Creed: Christians, what do you believe?

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who, for us men, and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin, Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the Prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

WESTMINSTER LARGER CATECHISM

Q28. Minister: What are the punishments of sin in this world?

Congregation: The punishments of sin in this world, are either inward, as blindness of mind, a reprobate sense, strong delusions, hardness of heart, horror of conscience, and vile affections: or outward, as the curse of God upon the creatures for our sake; and all other evils that befall us in our bodies, names, estates, relations, and employments; together with death itself.

Q29. Minister: What are the punishments of sin in the world to come?

Congregation: The punishments of sin in the world to come, are everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most grievous torments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell-fire for ever.

Q30. Minister: Doth God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

Congregation: God doth not leave all men to perish in the estate of sin and misery, into which they fell by the breach of the first covenant, commonly called the Covenant of Works; but of his mere love and mercy delivereth his elect out of it, and bringeth them into an estate of salvation by the second covenant, commonly called the Covenant of Grace.

HYMN

The First Noel (577)

- CONSECRATION -

SCRIPTURE READING

(Dave Winckler)

Isaiah 7:10–17 NKJV

Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings. The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.”

Matthew 1:18–25 NKJV

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

Reader: The Word of the Lord. Congregation: Thanks be to God!

HYMN

Please sit. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (579)

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

(Mike Casbon)

HYMN

Please stand. Silent Night, Holy Night (588)

SERMON

"Judgement Has Come”

PRAYER

Ending with The Lord’s Prayer…

OFFERTORY

Please stand. Doxology (734)

- COMMUNION -

Please sit.

MEDITATION

We now come to the part of the service where God seals the Word He has spoken to us by giving us covenant signs as visible guarantees of God’s abiding love towards us. It is common for God to seal a promise with a sign. He gave a sign of deliverance to King Ahaz that a virgin will conceive a child and then at the birth of this child, He gave some shepherds a sign that they will see a child, wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. But this meal is more particular than that. It is a memorial. Christ Jesus said “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” and “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” But what does “in remembrance of me” mean?

The chief meaning is not that we remember Christ's death and its implications for us but that God remembers Christ's death and its implications for us. In the Old Testament, whenever God gives a sign for remembrance, it is a reminder to God to uphold His covenant toward us. Consider for example, the bow in the clouds that God gave to Noah which is a memorial before God. God says that whenever it shall appear in the clouds, "I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh" (Gen 9:16) Likewise, in the Passover meal, which was a type of the Lord's Supper, the blood of a covenant on the doorpost was to serve a reminder to the angel of death to pass over the homes of the God's people on account of the blood. So also, this meal set before you is a proclamation of the Lord's death, not primarily before the world or even before you, it is first and foremost a proclamation before God the Father on account of the priestly mediating work of the Lord Jesus Christ on your behalf. So, as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you can be sure that God is continuing to remember you accounted in Christ, reckoned perfectly righteous before Him, accepted and forgiven, a pleasing aroma before the Lord. This meal is therefore a reminder to you of the veritable promises of God by which He saves you from your sin. So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.

THE BREAD

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he broke it:

Of the Father’s Love Begotten (587, vs. 1-3) And when Jesus had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

THE WINE

Of the Father’s Love Begotten (587, vs. 4-7) After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

- COMMISSION -

Please stand.

CLOSING DOXOLOGY

The congregation may raise hands.

CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

Hebrews 13:20–21 NKJV

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.