God is Sovereign Over All Shaking - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Second Timothy two nineteen reads, but God's firm foundation stands bearing this seal, the Lord knows those who are his. And let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. Let's pray. Lord, you tell us that you look upon those who tremble at your word. This is your voice.

But Lord, we also know that apart from your help, we will not be able to tremble as we ought. And so we ask for the assistance of the Holy Spirit as your word is delivered, And that, Lord, we would all perceive that it is you who is speaking. And that, Lord, we would feel your love, your wisdom. We would know your truth, your will for our lives, and it would conform us. Protect us from the habit of Herod who heard John gladly, but never changed.

Change us. Help us. Transform us. We believe that you are true and that you reward those who diligently seek you. We seek you now as a church.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. When we look out into this world today, there is no doubt that the things that we thought were fixed and reliable have actually proven to be uncertain and unpredictable. No matter what direction you look into, whether it's from the government down to the things that you engage with on a daily routine, you come to this conclusion I'm sure, that whatever promise of stability and security there was, it has failed. It has failed.

And so intense have these turbulence times been that even Christian ministries and communities have felt the vibrations underneath their feet. And they have questioned certain things about even certain ministries and ministers that have promised certain things, especially here in the West. We should know that global and personal turbulence has been promised by God, has been assured to us from the scriptures that they will come and they will only intensify as the culmination of the age approaches. But as much as that is true, these things are not new. The church has known shakings since its inception.

In fact, you and I learned last week that Paul himself highlights certain agitations that were occurring in the church that pastor Tim was overlooking. And he speaks on these things, and it should surprise us because the church of Ephesus was unlike any other church to a certain degree. That church was birthed by revival in a city. Ephesus was shook by the power of God. There was even a massive bonfire where all these people that were worshiping idols and doing magic, they just burned all their scrolls, and that's how the church started.

And on top of that, you have Paul's protege pastoring that church. And all these wonderful things were occurring, and yet still this kind of church knew problems. They knew internal strife. Now it's one thing for Christians to look out into a world ruining itself. But how how is a believer supposed to feel when in the one place that is called to supernatural unity, power, love is being disturbed?

That's what Timothy was facing. The church that he was pouring himself into. The church that he sacrificed for. The church that he was trying to hold together was being shaken by certain men that were trying to bring heresies into the camp causing frustration and confusion among God's people. And as a pastor to pastors, Paul brings this up but he doesn't stay with the issues.

He quickly brings a reminder to Timothy. Just in case he had any quivering nerves, to bring him assurance of something that he was a part of. And we just read it. God's foundation stands. Timothy, though you see shakings in this world, which include my imprisonment, and though you yourself are seeing a rising tide of assault on your own assembly, you need to understand something.

You are part of something that is forever. God's foundation forever stands. Yes. Even though there are tides of deception, and even though there have been many blows of people trying to bring division, nothing has ever been able to uproot or destroy this foundation, Timothy. And you're a part of it.

Now it's not explicitly clear what Paul means by foundation here, but we have every reason to have a strong belief that he is talking about what he says in another text. In Ephesians nineteen and twenty, you don't have to turn there, but Paul says, we are members of the household of God. Then he goes on to say, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. So when he says, God's firm foundation stands, I believe that he is speaking about the true church of Jesus Christ. The true people of God.

And upon this foundation, Paul brings to mind two inscriptions that are chiseled on it. And the one thing, the one seal that he brings up is, the Lord knows those who are his. And the other, we're gonna cover, let those who name the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. In other words, the foundation, the church of Jesus Christ stands, yes. But these characteristics of the church that describe the church will never be changed either.

You can't erase it. You can't blur it. It will remain. And these things describe, at least in part, just the foundation of the church. And it says something about the sovereignty of God over his church, and it says something about man's responsibility of those who claim to be a part of his church.

And no matter who's trying to change it up, no matter who's trying to frustrate, no matter who's trying to come and cause chaos, this will never change, Timothy. And your feet are firmly planted on it because you're a true man of God. So let's explore these things. First thing he says is that that he, being God, knows those who are his. What does that mean?

I mean, if you pull that truth out of its context, it can mean many comforting things, but it's connected to a text. It's connected to an idea. And we have some reason to believe that Paul is trying to remind Timothy of a phrase found in the Old Testament that has much relevance to what he was experiencing in this moment, as there is tumultuous times as a pastor for him. Because what was happening here? Go back to the verse before this, in verse 17.

And their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philotus, who have swerved from the truth saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. This guy, Jimenez, was trouble. He was trouble.

You heard it last week. He was already kicked out of the church of Ephesus for his heresy. And this man, even though he was excommunicated, was still attempting to capture the souls of those who are under the protective care of these genuine shepherds. Showing what? That he had absolutely no regard for God's appointed authority and for God himself for that matter.

And this for a pastor is disturbing. Not only are people looking down on him because of his age, people are not even considering the authority that he brings from God's word. Himeneus was a troublemaker. And Paul says, don't worry Pastor Tim. Don't be shaken up because God knows those who are really his.

And if Timothy really was a student of the Hebrew scriptures, you would have known exactly what Paul was talking about. Because in the book of Numbers, chapter 16, I would encourage you to turn there. This is a certain scene during the exodus journey out of Egypt for the nation of Israel. And after some time, rebellion was raised up. Korah was the ringleader.

Korah was a person who had a ministry position. He was not some unnamed person. He had influence. He had some kind of service in the tabernacle, but all for a sudden, he begins to gather some people. He begins to speak to some people in the camp, and he creates a new clan, and he convinces them of something concerning Moses and Aaron and they they buy into it, and they are ready to challenge Moses and Aaron for their position.

And what's so sad is when you read in the first few verses of number 16, you read of how they have gathered a group and it's a sad reminder that ever since the day of Moses, there are those among God's fold who are easily recruited to join others in the same fold, who actually are rebellious and desire to divide and conquer. And as much as those who are leading such schemes are to be blamed and to be condemned, those who lack the discernment to be able to question and to be able to investigate are just as guilty. Unfortunately, after succeeding to deceive a good number of people, Cora said, you know, this is this is enough. They step up and challenge the leaders in the following verse, in verse three. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, you have gone too far For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them.

Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?' What was their accusation? Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? Do you not realize that everybody here is holy? You think you're holier than us because you can tell us what to do?

Who are you and who's your brother? Who gave you the right to to lead us and guide us and direct us? And what Korah does here is what many people who attempt to divide churches do, they convince others that they are actually fighting for their interest. They convince others that they are actually doing this for a great cause. In fact, they use bible language.

Right? Who are you to do this to the assembly of the Lord? Oh, now you're spiritual. Because you use bible, because you quoted verses. Again, I can't help but think about those who followed Korah who lacked the ability to see right past his deception.

Who couldn't be able to discern the true motive of this man because they themselves thought, no, he actually is out looking for us. Why would he do all this? Why would he cause so much trouble? Surely his word is true because if somebody claims to be a Christian and they say something, it has to be true. It can't be a lie.

They're Christian. They go to church. They can't they can't say something that that is false. They would never tear things apart. No.

You know, when I first got saved, I mean fresh out of the oven saved. I thought everybody who was called themselves Christian, everybody who had a ministry position was like the most trustworthy person. I was like, they're Christians. They they follow Christ. So I would tell them what God's doing in my life, what I think he's gonna do here in my heart and open.

And then one wise person pulled me aside says, hey hey, you can't be doing that. I'm like, why? They're they're people from the church. Yeah, that doesn't mean much these days. Yeah.

But I'm just telling what I think God is doing in my life and where he's gonna be leading me and what I think he's putting on my heart. Yeah. But you need wisdom. And sure enough, throughout time I realized, Christians are capable of a lot. They are.

And it's a common trait like Korah for people to use Christianese to mask carnality. Brothers and sisters, as you continue in your Christian journey, you will hear a lot of things about a lot of people, which include ministries and even ministers. May I admonish you? May I exhort you in the Lord? Be careful.

Be very prayerful. Ask God to daily make you sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Be wise and ask questions. Investigate. Those who are being accused even, you have every right to say, hey, is this really true?

You will save yourself from much trouble, and you will save others from much trouble. And be careful to not let your emotions be arrested by someone else, because it could not even be true in the first place. But unfortunately for Moses' situation, it was too late. It was too late. Korah gathered a good enough group and they came to him and they challenged him.

And you know what's so sad? God gives us commentary why Korah was really doing this. Psalm one zero six verse 16 tells us, when men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron. When men in the camp were jealous of Moses. Isn't that interesting?

So in reality, Korah had absolutely no interest in the people's interests. He had a lust for power and position. And he realized this, if that person is occupying that position, then I gotta do something to get rid of him in that position. And there is great power in number. So let me convince a few weak minded people to think that I'm actually doing this for them and for the name of God, When in reality, I have to itch this lust in my soul.

God says, they were jealous. The people thought, no look at him. He's right. We all have access to authority. We we all have access to certain roles.

Who do people think they are to step above us? When in fact it was God who put them in that position. How does Moses respond? Look at verse four. When Moses heard it, he fell on his face.

What a man of God. Whenever you see that phrase, it often refers to him seeking God. So here's Korah and his little gang, and they said, who do you think you are? You've gone too far. And the first thing Moses does is seek God.

Oh, would that be our reflex in all things? Come on. How how honest are we this morning if somebody says something that what's our knee jerk reaction? Who do you think you are? Right?

No. Oh God. And he falls before he falls before the Lord. But guess what? There are sometimes where you need to pray and there are sometimes where you need to act.

But this one thing is true, no matter what you think you need to do, always pray before. Verse five, and he said to Korah and all his company, pay attention now, in the morning the Lord will show who is his and who is holy and will bring him near to him, and the one he chooses will bring near to him. In the Septuagint, which is a fancy word to describe the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, it actually reads, the Lord knows those who are his. So Paul reaches to this text, pulls this phrase out and applies it to Timothy as a new covenant minister. And he's saying, Timothy, do you remember what happened to Moses?

Do you remember how God was sovereign over that situation with Moses? It is no different for you as a minister in my God's church. In essence, he was saying, Moses to Korah, though you are attempting to disrupt and divide God's people, the Lord will eventually reveal those who truly belong to him at one point or another. Paul says, Timothy, that's for you. That's for you.

All this craziness that you are enduring is not going to do a thing to those who truly belong to God. Don't worry about this heresy stuff. Yes, you'd be concerned, confront it, but don't be so concerned in thinking that God has lost lost control over his church. God will preserve the right ones from being deceived. You need to trust in that.

How glorious is this? How amazing is this? It teaches us that God is sovereign over every form of division even. Because that's what we think. We look at something like division and we think, we lost another one.

Satan got a hold of him. Are you telling me God is not sovereign over his church? Are you telling me that there's one element, there's one thing that can happen where God's like, sorry. I missed that one. Blasphemy.

Over every form of division whether it is doctrinally motivated like in Timothy's case, or a split that stems from personal detestment like in Moses's situation. Timothy, I know it's heartbreaking to see him and us convincing people to believe what is false. Remember, the Lord will preserve his own from deception even in the midst of apostasy. Moses, though it is gut wrenching to see people rise up against the leadership because of their jealousy and ingratitude, don't worry. Those who truly belong to God will be revealed.

It's very likely that some of you in this place have come from ministries or even churches that experienced splits and division, and it was painful. You're still trying to heal from it. Some like in Timothy's case because of doctrine, false teaching has crept in, and maybe in other situations like Moses, because there are insecure people who wanted power and willing were willing to burn everything down if they didn't get what they wanted. Know this, as painful as it was, God was and he's still sovereign over his church. There is not one evil thing that can slip from God's hand, even if it is as satanic as dividing people.

You might not believe me, so go to first Corinthians chapter 11, please, in verse eighteen and nineteen. Paul speaking to a New Testament church that had divisions within about almost everything. Who they liked as leaders, I like him, I don't like him, I'm I'm I follow this guy, I don't follow that guy, about sin, about gifts, clicks, even economic and social division. Talk about division. And notice what he says at one point in first Corinthians eleven eighteen, for in the first place when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I believe it in part.

He's like, I'm not gonna believe everything I hear. Don't believe everything you hear. I believe it in part. Why does he say in part? Because like, I already know how carnal you are, so I'm not surprised that this is this is possible.

But I'm not gonna believe everything I hear. I believe it in part, this blows my mind, verse 19. For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. Hello. Paul, did I misread what you just said?

How do I reconcile There must be factions among you. There must be. You just said in chapter one verse 10, I appeal to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you would all agree, that you would have the same mind, that you would have the same judgments. And 10 chapters later, he goes, you know what? There actually has to be division sometimes.

Isn't all division destructive? No. Sometimes it's necessary. Sometimes it's needed. How?

You see, when there are people from within who will pursue division at any cost, God will see it. And sometimes God will allow it. And when he allows it, from that thing will come a revealing and an exposing of who is truly of God and who is playing church all along. This verse is incredible because it answered something in my own heart. After years of thinking about how certain things don't don't happen the way you think they should.

I mean, you read about Korah's story, they cause an uprising and the earth opens up and and and just swallows up all those causing trouble, and we're like, why can't that happen today? I'll tell you why, because there'd be earthquakes every week. How is it that you can preach on gossip and slander, and the necessity that if somebody's offended, you do it the way Jesus did it, go to them directly, and barely anybody listens. How how is it that even when you know that there are some people who are pursuing reconciliation, and they're trying to make things right, and they're they're seeking for peace, you have those who don't want it, and they'll just keep going in the way that they're going and causing friction and division. How is it that this this keeps happening?

And you think to yourself, Lord, why? Am I not preaching hard enough? Am I not teaching deep enough? What's going on? And I look at a verse like this and I realized that in his perfect wisdom, sometimes it's the means by which he cleanses his church.

Let me clean my church. In other words, God uses. He doesn't initiate. He sovereignly orchestrates division to reveal false Christians. That might have been camouflage in the midst just like Korah for many years, but were really something else on the inside.

And because God is sovereign even over things like division, guess what? He's even sovereign over when it happens. Divisions reveal those who truly submit to God's word, and those who elevate their opinion or their ideas more. Divisions reveal who is truly a peacemaker and who is actually operating with pride. The visions reveal who actually has a love for Christ and his kingdom, and who actually just wants to play church.

You know, it's amazing, in number 16, if you're still there, you go to verse 12. I see a man named Moses who was attempting to try to hold things together, who's attempting to do it right. And look at this in verse 12, and Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. So these are these are the co workers of Korah. These are the ones that were hired, so to speak, by his persuasion to join Korah in in the division.

And Moses realizes they're not in the midst, so he's he's calling them. He wants them to be in the conversation. He wants to find some kind of answer. He he sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons alive, and they said, we will not come up. Oh, Moses says to come, Pastor Moses says to come up?

Who does who does this guy think he is? We're staying right here. Here's my question, how do you work with people like that? What do you do when you're trying to pursue reconciliation, you're trying to pursue peace? See, Paul is not admonishing, he's not an advocate that when whenever there's little issues divide and cut.

No. No. No. No. He says in chapter one, strive for peace.

Make sure that you agree, but there comes a point where there are those who just are settled on bringing division, whether it's doctrinally or for personal reasons. And Paul says, let God cleanse his church. God is exposing it. This does not call us to see the Lord's sovereignty over all things. Do you not have an elevated view this morning of God's wisdom?

Do you not see how he is truly the master of his church and that he governs it perfectly? But it doesn't feel good. I know it doesn't feel good. Obviously, some of you can testify to the pain. I've dealt with people and I've talked with people, especially young people, who've had to go through many of these things in different churches and they still describe the pain.

It's never God's intention or will for that to happen, but there are times where God sovereignly, observes and allows. Because as painful as it is, purging hurts. Purging hurts. Let me ask you a question. What did Jesus say about his word?

Did he say I've come so that everybody can agree and get along? I have not come to bring peace on the earth, but a sword. I've come to bring a sword and guess what? I've come and my sword is so sharp that it will divide households. Father against son, son against father, daughter against mother, mother against daughter, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

What? For little issues? No, because of truth. Because of truth. Truth in its description is exclusive.

Truth will demand you to make a side. Truth will call you to say, do you submit to this authority or to your own idea? And we think that sort only cuts in houses. No, it cuts in churches too. Division is always wrong.

Tell me about the reformation, please. Tell me about the reformation. What was that? What do we celebrate every October 31? Was it for petty things?

Was it because we like suits with three buttons and not two? Dressers should be this long and not No. Truth. And it will divide. And he's telling Timothy, hey, it's okay for this to happen.

Why? Because God is gonna reveal those who really belong to him. Would you like to be on that side? Would you like to be his when God in his perfect wisdom will expose whether in this life or surely in the life to come? Then we have to honor the second seal that he writes about in this verse.

In second Timothy two nineteen he says, let those who name the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. You know, most of us, if not all of us, when we in our hearts wanna call someone to salvation, or we wanna comfort somebody who is questioning their security in Christ, we go to that wonderful scripture in Romans. Right? If you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised them from the dead, you will be saved. Praise God.

But why are we so slow to follow it up with what Timothy says here? You wanna name the name of Christ? Then depart from iniquity. Let those who believe, let those who confess know that they will be saved. That's one side of the coin.

Flip the coin. Let those who named the name of Christ flee from their sin. Bringing these two verses together means this, that no matter how much one person confesses, they can confess till they're blue in the face. If they are not showing any fruit or evidence that they have flee from iniquity, their confession is meaningless. It means nothing.

Because you cannot name the name of Christ and hold on to the sin that he calls you to let go of. And because of this side of the coin is neglected in the call of salvation, and because the the call to sanctification is not being charged by leaders in different places across the world who claim to be churches, we are dishonoring the very seal of the foundation of God's church. The foundation speaks of the basic, the things that everything is built on. And for us to neglect repentance from our gospel declaration and from our teaching as those who have been bought by the blood of Christ, we are neglecting and ignoring the very foundation in which the church is built on. And because of that, we invite much trouble in.

Repentance is the basis for which the church is built on. Meaning, repentance is the introduction to your Christianity. If you have not made a decision to turn from sin and then live in repentance, you're not even at the ABC's of Christianity. I want you to see something in Acts five that you will not see in your modern church growth book. That you probably, I have I have a safe feeling, you probably will never hear on how to grow a church.

In Acts chapter five beginning in verse 12, now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon's porticle. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. We wanna be the church of the book of Acts, and where do we go to? Look how many thousands were added.

Look how many in a day were saved. Look at the power. Look at the seriousness. Look at the persecution and endurance. When have you come to this verse and said, none dare to join the Christians?

We want to be like the book of Acts. It tells me here that a great amount of people said, I'm not signing up for this. I'm sorry. None dared to join them, but respected him. You guys are Christians?

That's awesome. You followed the way. Right? Beautiful. No.

No. No. I'm not gonna come to service. No. Thank you so much though.

I appreciate it. I respect you. God bless you. Thank you. None dared to join them.

Oh, why? We just read that miracles were performed. You would think miracles would draw people in? Many miracles. Supernatural acts of God.

You would think that would draw people in, right? Because that's what we're saying. We need this power. We need miracles. People aren't persuaded by words.

Oh, really? What made them hesitate to join the church? I believe it's what happened before verse 12. In verse 11, we are told, and great fear came upon the whole church, one, and upon all who heard of these things. And you know what happened in Acts five.

Right? You had a couple come into church. Yes, you know it. And they wanted to impress all the other Christians. We sold our land and we wanna give all the money to the leadership.

And Peter was not a pastor to mess with. Peter was sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Peter wasn't like those people who followed Korah, that just believed everything. Oh, they said it. Oh, they said it.

That must mean it's true. This is all the money. Right? Yes. How dare you lie to the Holy Spirit?

How is it that Satan has so filled your heart to perform such an evil thing? And the husband dies and hours pass by, the wife comes to church, tells you how long their church services was. Hey, is this all the money? Yes. We gave everything.

You're dead. She dies. The young men come, carry her out. Bury her next to her husband. And guess what?

The whole church that heard about it were afraid and not just the church. CNN and Fox news picked it up. A couple came to church and lied and were stricken dead by the Holy Spirit. Terrified. You know, verse 13 is a very encouraging verse.

Because you know what this did? It caused all the half hearted, it caused those who were partly committed, it caused those who wanted to hold on to their sin but also like this idea of following Jesus, to completely change their minds. What caused them to fear? This church is serious about sin. I don't know if I can sign up for this.

This Jesus person, this head of this church, he does not take sin lightly and I don't know if I wanna sign up for something that demands me to depart from iniquity. Sorry. Not interested. To which I would say, good. This is anti modern day idea of how to grow a church.

You know what that proves to me? Much of the methods in which we want to bring people in, means they exclude this verse. If they realize that it is the fear of God, it is the exposure of sin that kept these away, what's what's the equation? Don't talk about sin. Don't preach repentance.

Don't tell people they need to live right if they represent Christ. You're gonna push them away. Well, the book of acts did it. The book of acts that you claim that you wanna follow did it. We don't wanna be a part of this.

And guess what? It wasn't just because the Holy Spirit killed people. The Holy Spirit worked with pastor Peter who is willing to initiate the exposure. But this is good. Why is it good?

Because why do we want people to come in that don't want to repent? Is that the church? Is the church as a club? Do we just want to have people come in so we can say, look at the great number. That's not the church of the book of Acts.

That's not Christ's church because on Christ's church foundation, it is inscribed, let those who name the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. None dare to join them. Why? Because that pastor and those elders really take sin seriously. They want to make sure that the church of Jesus Christ is walking in holiness and integrity.

Meaning what? That a true church will exercise church discipline. And a true church will teach the people that when you see a brother in sin, you go to them one on one. And if they don't want to listen, you bring two or three more. And if not, you bring it to the church.

That will filter those who just want to play Christianity. From those who say, I wanna be a part of the fold of God. None dare to join them. See, the issue today is that we have equated the way business models measure success into ministry. So the more the better, not according to Jesus Christ.

If you believe that in Jesus Christ is one of the greatest failures in your ideology, who had 12, who whenever he saw a great number said, you know, this is a lot of people. I don't think they really get what they're signing up for. Eat my flesh and drink my blood. The church in its success, in her beauty, in her majesty, in her reflection of Jesus Christ will only be known when they honor God's standard and God's inscription on the seal of his foundation. And that's why these people said, not interested.

The early church set a standard, a biblical standard, not a legalistic standard, not an unrealistic standard, a biblical standard. And that's what made her powerful. And that's what made her effective. See, when people got got signed up for this, they realized it was all in. It was all in.

Imagine signing up for a membership for a local church, and you knew that the history of the church was, you know, a couple came in once and they lied to the leadership about how much they were really giving to impress others and and God killed them. How many think would sign up for that membership? Oh, but we just wanna hear lovely sermons and we just wanna come and sing nice songs and be a part of people who are conservative politically. Oh, really? That's the church, Let those who name the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.

That is the mark of a person who's truly born again. They don't just believe that Jesus covered their sin, they believe that Jesus delivers them from the power of sin. And so Timothy was to be comforted. Why? Because there were shakings, not just in the world, not just because Rome was hunting down Christians and there were all these conspiracy theories.

No. His own church, the one place he thought would be safe and the one place he thought there would be no trouble, the one place he thought everybody would be like minded and on the same, Now there were a couple of people trying to ruffle feathers. It was disturbing him, like any leader would be. And Paul comes in as a pastor, the pastor says, hey, calm down. Remember, he will reveal those who really belong to him.

Let God purge his church. But it hurts. Purging hurts. But it's for the sake of my name, for the sake of the effectiveness of my church. And so that's God's sovereign dealing.

Your responsibility and mine is to flee from sin, is to flee from iniquity. And what better message as we approach the table of the Lord? I'm sure there are other truths that would apply. Because that bread represents unity. But what do we unify around?

Here's one thing according to this verse. We all love righteousness and hate wickedness. We love our Christ and we hate anything that would bring division to his purposes. Prepare our hearts to eat, shall we? Lord, we've heard your word this morning.

We've heard your standard for your church. Thank you that you are sovereign over your people. Not even division can thwart your purposes. Your foundation will forever stand. Lord, your word warns us that those who destroy the temple of God will themselves be destroyed.

Help us not only revere you, but revere your bride. Lord, give us a discernment that was lacking in the followers of Korah, but was present in the mind of Paul, who believed in part. Lord, we pray that you would preserve your church and that there would never be unnecessary division in our experience. And Lord, we all declare to you today in your presence that we choose to depart from iniquity. We don't want sin.

We don't wanna be a part of a church and still live in adultery. We don't wanna be a part of your church and live in lust. We don't wanna serve two masters, money and God. We wanna be like your son. Conform us to the image of your son.

Lord, as we come to this table, may we realize that you are in the midst, that you are watching to see who truly honors this ordinance. And so Lord, if there is an offense in our hearts for another, may we realize that we will drink judgment upon ourselves if we have not sought reconciliation. Help us realize in this moment, Lord, that you are declaring make things right before you come to this altar. And Lord, we ask that this church would be a church that would know the presence of the Holy Spirit in a way that would expose sin when necessary. Not because of joy of exposing people, but for the sake of preserving the purity of your people.

Oh, let the Holy Spirit's person be known here. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.