Preparing For The Lord's Day

preparing

Preparing for the Lord's Day 

 

In Matthew 7 the Lord Jesus teaches that following after him is not the easy road in this life. He explains,

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13–14 ESV) 

It is sometimes difficult to endure in the way of Christ, especially when we see how easy and wide the way of the world appears. So how do we endure in the narrow way? We must see that the end of the wide and easy path is destruction and the end of the narrow hard way is life. In short, to endure with Christ we must keep in mind the end of each path. The difficulty of following Christ is not a foretaste of the destination, rather it is merely the bitterness that proceeds the ripening of a fruit. In like fashion, the ease of the wide path does not predict the ease of the future, but rather tells of its foreboding future destiny. In Psalm 52, David poetically explains the destiny of these two paths and reveals to us that to endure with Christ we must keep the end in view. To come prepared for the sermon, take time this week to read and to meditate upon Psalm 52, 1 Samuel 22:16-19, Jeremiah 12:1, Matthew 7:13; 23:1-33, John 11:25, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 and Westminster Confession of Faith 33.  

This week we will celebrate that sacrament of the Lord’s Supper during our worship service. As we receive the elements of bread and wine we look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. For as we physically receive the signs of the Lord’s body and blood, spiritually we feed upon him and all his benefits. Our hymns for this week include “Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder,” “There Is a Redeemer,” and “My Hope Is in the Lord.

Text: Psalm 52 

Title: To Endure with Christ 

Outline 

  1. You Must Recognize the Evilness of the Wicked (vv. 1-4)
  2. You Must See the Destiny of the Wicked (vv. 5-7)
  3. You Must Trust in Christ for New Life (vv. 8-9)

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