Good morning Let's go ahead and get started if you want to come in and find your seats We're continuing our Sunday school this morning and looking at choose better by biblical models making biblical ethical decisions by T David Gordon and This morning we're going to be looking at the communion model, and we'll do the same as the other models. We'll do two weeks on it. So we'll do part one today. We'll do part two next week. Just by way of introduction, studying this, it occurred to me that the communion model is kind of, I would say, maybe the most encompassing model, because it overlaps with all the others. There's really no way to communicate with our God and not be involved in whether learning about the law, or learning new wisdom, or learning about the character of God, or spiritual warfare. It's all kind of intertwined, especially if you study his word. But just as a recap, we've looked at previously imitation model, we looked at the law model, and we looked at the wisdom model. And next time, after these two sessions, we'll look at the final model, the warfare model. So let's go ahead and get started by opening in prayer real quick. Father and our God, we do thank You that we can come before You again to study Your Word and study Your truth. We pray that these sessions are edifying to us, Lord. We pray that You use Your Spirit to enlighten our minds and renew our minds that we better understand Your Word and better learn how to apply it to our daily lives, Lord. And we do pray for Your wisdom. We pray for continued communion with our great Creator. And Lord, we pray that You bless our time of fellowship together. We pray this glorifying and honoring to You. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Alright, so just a couple of disclaimers. I'm going to go through probably the first two-thirds, I believe, of the chapter, this session. Then we'll look at that final third when we look more at how to kind of apply this. Because I think we'll want some time for some good discussion on that. And as I go through, I'm going to be paraphrasing a bit of what Gordon says in his book. Obviously, I'll be adding some commentary. And we'll also be reading some scripture references throughout. For the short references, you can just listen rather than flipping through your Bibles. But the longer ones, what I'll do is I will, if you have the book, I'll tell you what page it's on if you want to just look through the book and not have to look up. other script references, but you can do that as well if you'd like. Alright, so let's look at Introduction. This is Chapter 5, The Communion Model. So we start out with, How might this decision enhance or inhibit my or our, and that's important, we'll look at more at how this works in a corporate setting, our communion with God. So human life consists in communication, discourse, or communion with God. We've talked about this before. Humans have the unique ability, among all creatures, to address and be addressed by God. We've looked at how humans are indeed unique in the way we are created, that we were made to be able to communicate with our God, unlike the beasts of the field, for example. Our lives are, in a sense, fellowship with God. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145. So Augustine noted that man's desire to praise God and wrote that restless is our heart until it comes to rest in thee. John Owen also spoke of life as communion with God and noted that this communion is twofold. One, it is perfect and complete. This is when we see him as he is in the full fruition of his glory. And then number two, initial and incomplete, which we have here in grace, is yet only first fruits and dawnings of that perfection. So we have the here and now, and we have the yet to come. It is then, I say, of that mutual communication in giving and receiving, after a most holy and spiritual manner, which is between God and the saints, while they walk together in a covenant of peace, ratified in the blood of Jesus, whereof we are to treat." Quote. So in this life, our quote-unquote rest will include an element of unrest, but it will be perfected in the believer's final rest. And just a shameless plug here, we looked at the believer's final rest recently when we closed up our session on systematic theology. That was our last session. Though our communion with God now is imperfect and incomplete, it is a true blessing and ought to be pursued fervently. God communicates and initiates such dialogue with man and invites our reply to him. And we'll flesh that out a little more as we go through here. The communion model, therefore, approves that which enhances our vital experience of life with with our God, and disapproves that which damages this experience. Choices may either foster our communion with God or detract from our communion with God." So that really is the essence here as we're looking at Choose Better, right? We're looking at biblical decisions, ethical decision-making. Does it enhance or does it detract from our communion with God? All right, so let's look at the biblical basis for the communion model. God addresses man and teaches us to address Him. Even after the banishment of Adam and Eve from the garden, God continues speaking to man through prophets and inscripturated revelation. So He is the Word of God. In that revelation, God requires that His people pray to Him. So that's definitely something to note. God expects and requires us to communicate with Him. In the Psalms, we find a record of his people's communication with him in thanksgiving, in lament, in praise, etc. You could say that Adam and Eve's desire to communicate with the creature rather than the Creator led to all of man's woe throughout history. Their sin initially consisted in their listening to the serpent rather than the voice of God. And then we can look at Romans 1, starting in verse 21, and this is on page 80 for those who wish to follow along in their books. Although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who was blessed forever. Amen. So we see this here fleshed out in Scripture. And Paul instructs us to pray without ceasing, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5.20. Also, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, Ephesians 6.18. Rejoice always pray without ceasing give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you first Thessalonians 5 16 through 18 The Reformers spoke of living quorum there the presence in the presence of God And we can also look at Romans 14 starting verse 7. This is on page 81 if you have your books. I None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord." Romans 14, 7 and 8. All right. Move on to our next section, the communion model and human nature. So a brief and incomplete overview of the biblical evidence that life itself is communion with God, and every attempt to evaluate life must consider whether a choice contributes to or detracts from this basic purpose of life. He enumerates a few things here. I've gone ahead and numbered them to make it easier to follow along. So the first part, he mentions Genesis 1-3, 11 and 28. I've marked this as the creation account number one. So we are made in the image of God, Magodei, and therefore capable of communicating with God. Indeed, God spoke directly with Adam and Eve, even after their rebellion, with words of judgment and a promise of redemption. So we look at Genesis 3, starting in verse 16. It's mentioned in the book, but not written. You're welcome to look it up if you'd like. To the woman, he said, I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." That's Genesis 3, 16-19. Therefore, our communion with God has been disrupted by this curse, and it will not be re-established in its ideal form until the end of the age when we shall see God. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is, 1 John 3.2. Notice that as he is, that was also a similar language to what Augustine said. However, communion still continues in a damaged and degraded form. Severing it entirely would be to destroy human life itself. So we can look at 1 Timothy 5, 5 and 6. This is on page 82. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. But she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives." 1 Timothy 5, 5-6. While the curse and banishment is a harsh reality, Scripture promises its ultimate reversal. We see in Revelation 21, this is also in page 82, I believe, Yes, Revelation 21, starting verse 3, And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away. So for now, these people will suffer with the reality that our very nature longs to fellowship and commune with God, yet we are presently banished from the blessedness that flows from His presence. In Genesis 11, Moses recounts the rebellious and futile attempt humanity made to, quote unquote, storm heaven by building a tower to the heavens where God reigns. This, of course, ends in divine judgment. I won't read that whole story here. You're welcome to read that on your own. That's Genesis 11. In Genesis 28, however, what they longed for and what we longed for is pledged to Jacob in a dream. He sees a ladder that permits angelic beings to ascend and descend between heaven and earth, a foretaste of Revelation 21. I'll just look a little bit at Revelation 21. Only when the last Adam completes his work will this blessedness appear. Our banishment from full communion with God is what produces our inconsolable longing. Man's idolatrous efforts to satisfy this longing will never succeed. Fulfillment can only come in the next life. God has appointed special means by which he addresses rebellious humans and allows us to address him. We'll flesh that out, too. All right, so we get on to number two. God communicates to us. God addresses us first, and we reply. He addresses us through his creation, through special revelation, and supremely through his incarnate Son. So I've enumerated these. We'll look at A, natural or general revelation. God created nature, which is generally perceptible by all. So that's why we call it natural or general revelation. This discloses some realities about the nature of God himself. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse." Romans 1.20. I'm sure you're familiar with this one. The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19.1. So just as an artist reveals something about himself and his artistic works, so too does God reveal something about himself and his creation. B, special revelation. God has also spoken specially to his covenant people through his word and his sacraments. Let's look at Romans 3, starting in verse 1, and that's on page 84. Then what advantage has the Jew, or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. Begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. The Israelites were aware of this special privilege. Let's look at Deuteronomy 4, beginning in verse 7, also on 84. For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call upon Him? And what great nation is there that His statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? God had manifest Himself to the Israelites in a special way. Today God manifests Himself to His people in a special way. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. These sacraments would be foolishness apart from the linguistic revelation that accompanies them. And therefore, his special revelation through sacraments has always been accompanied by his inscripturated word." And that's important. And I also think it's important to note here, as our pastor said before, that the one critique may be a little too much emphasis on the personal aspects of the models we're looking at and not so much the corporate. So I think it's important to look at the sacraments here because these are corporate aspects. Finally, I see incarnation. God's supreme disclosure of himself occurred when the eternal Son of God became incarnate and dwelt among us on earth. Let's look at Hebrews 1, verse 1. This is on page 84. It begins on page 84. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs." Hebrews 1, 1 through 4, and this is a clear rendition of where we get the three offices of Christ, prophet, priest, and king. Christ is the supreme prophet. John called him the quote-unquote, Word of God. Let's look at John 1, beginning in verse 1. It's in Proverbs 85, in the middle. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1, 1-3, and 14. Jesus was fully aware that He was the fullest disclosure of God to man ever. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? John 14, 19. The fullest revelation of God's character is manifested through the incarnation. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14, 13. All right, number three, we reply to God. God calls us to reply to him, often verbally through prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and singing. A, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, Ephesians 6.18. Literally, pray in every season in the Spirit. We should live all of life in awareness of His presence. We should pray in every season of life, whether joyous or sorrowful. Life is designed to be fellowshiped with our Creator. And that's important for us to remember. I know we all have different personalities. Some may find it more difficult to pray in times of hardship, whereas others find it more difficult to remember to pray in times of praise, right? But it's important we do both. B. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16-18 Again, no circumstance should stop or prevent our prayers. God's will is for His creatures made in His image to learn to commune with Him in all of life's moments. And just to harp on that a little bit, I think we often see in our culture, as a culture in general, it seems like people tend to flock and run to God or at least run to the churches in times of hardship, in times of persecution. I remember showing my age here, but I remember after 9-11 just seeing on the news churches full and candlelight vigils and all that stuff going on. But it was just a matter of months before it all disappeared again. Pews were empty again. So culturally, we seem to have this idea that we only run to God when things are really hard. We expect things to be great. C, she who is truly a widow left all alone has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day. But she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives, 1 Timothy 5, 5 through 6. So note the contrast. The opposite of continuing in prayer night and day is self-indulgence. I find that contrast interesting. It's not too extreme, and there's a whole lot in the middle. If you're not continuing in your prayers, you're practicing self-indulgence. Those who are not in communion with God are described as being dead even while they live. D. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. James 5.13. Whether suffering or cheerful, we should commune with God by prayer or by praise. We must learn to do both, regardless of which we may struggle to do. I think that's a very important lesson for all God's people. We must learn to do both. do not neglect our communion with God based on our circumstances in our lives. Next section, number four, the Psalms. The entirety of the Psalter indeed testifies to life and communion with God. Israel rejoices, thanks, laments, celebrates, and mourns. of note is the prominence of laments in the Psalms. Nearly half are laments. God not only permits, but indeed invites us to commune with Him during life's difficulties. That's important to remember. I know some feel like they cannot come before God unless they have everything all straightened out in their lives and everything's all good and they're worthy, right, to come before God. Forgetting that Most important thing we can do is come before God in our brokenness. Most of the ancient religions taught that hardship was the result of displeasure of their deity. And there was no ordinary place for communion with the deity when one or many suffered. Biblical Christianity, however, teaches that even though God's people will sometimes suffer due to man's fall and the curse, the suffering of his people does not bring a barrier to commune with God. God listens to his grieving people and promises to sustain us throughout our times of need. Very important for us to remember. We're also called to commune with those who suffer. So we get into the corporate aspect here. His people would chant psalms of lament corporately. All would identify sympathetically with the sufferer. His people do not and should not suffer alone, but enter into the presence of God together." So that is definitely one of the benefits of the body of Christ, right? We are here together as a church family, as God's people. And not only should we exhort another, we should mourn with one another. We should share our sufferings together. And I guess the flip side of that is we should share our sufferings with one another, not just look to console, but look to be consoled. Very important corporate aspect. Number five, a good life, unlike a wicked life, is one that is close to, near to, or with God. And there's some biblical textbooks for this, beginning on page 88. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God, Genesis 6-9. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. Genesis 17, 1. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love for your servants who walk before you. With all their heart, you have kept with your servant David, my father, what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hands have fulfilled it this day. Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep for your servant David, my father, what you have promised him saying. You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way to walk before me as you have walked before me. 1 Kings 8, 22-25. And also, for you delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56, 13. And the Lord said, Because this people drew near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder, and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden. Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, those deeds are in the dark. And who say, who sees us, who knows us? Isaiah 29, 13-15. Also, Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him. And we will come to him and make our home with him. John 14-23. And finally, but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, Ephesians 2, 13. Note Paul's description of humanity, no one understands, no one seeks for God, Romans 3, 11. So to accept life without seeking communion with our creator is the very essence of fallenness, rebellion, and corruption. I find that a very strong statement, a correct one, but a strong statement. The very essence of our fallenness, our corruption, is to go about life without communion with our Creator. Number six. Here he looks specifically at Psalm 73 as a test case. Psalm 73 is a lament psalm, and perhaps a wisdom psalm. Usually in a lament, the psalmist records a complaint, often due to oppression of the wicked. However, the psalmist will ultimately acknowledge the impiety of complaining against God and His sovereign providence. He then trusts God. So we look at Psalm 73, verse 1, beginning on page 90. Yes, beginning on page 90. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." So here we can see his lament. In verses 4 through 14, we won't read those, but the psalmist unpacks the content of this complaint. But the next movement of the psalm begins in verse 15. Verses 15 through 18, which you can find that on page 91. If I had said, I will speak thus, I would have betrayed the generation of your children. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I discerned their end. Truly, I set them, excuse me, Truly, I set them in slippery places. You make them fall to ruin." The psalmist believed he would be betraying God's people had he merely complained. It's interesting. He considers it an actual betrayal of God's people. It is when the psalmist entered the sanctuary or presence of God that he perceived the end of the wicked and he ceased his complaint. He then begins to unpack their end in the next verses. So if you look on page 91, we see the beginning of verse 21. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant. I was like a beast toward you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel. And afterward, you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works." Notice how the psalmist chastises himself for being brutish and beastly. This is a stark contrast to human life, which is designed to be discursive, social, and relational. especially with our relation to God. Also note what changed his mind when he entered the sanctuary or the presence of God. The climax of the psalm is in the conclusion of verse 28. But for me, it is good to be near God. Then note the contrast of verse 27, that there are those who are far from God. So sin is the turning away from God. And he notes here, we turn away from God when we turn away from, and he enumerates a few things. Number one, or A, his praise and approval. And instead, we seek the praise and approval of men. How often do we all fall guilty of this? We also turn away from God when we turn away from his counsel and instead seek the counsel of men, and I specifically noted ungodly or immature men, because we did discuss in the wisdom model that we should seek the wisdom of spiritually mature believers. We also turn away from God when we turn away from His comfort, and instead seek comfort in His creation. How often are we guilty of that? I tend to be guilty of that. I try to seek my comfort in life through my possessions, the things that God has blessed me with, rather than seeking the comfort of His Word and my Creator. We turn away from God when we turn away from His promises, and instead attempt to secure our own well-being. Many of us, and I don't know, I haven't taken a straw poll, but probably men struggle with this especially, because we always try to plan for the future and have everything prepared. We're prepared for anything that comes our way, right? And what's the famous quote about, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. We also turn away from God when we turn away from His approved and noble pleasures, and instead seek ignoble pleasures that He disapproves. And that kind of goes hand in hand, I would say, with seeking the comfort in His creation. We seek things of this world rather than spiritual things of God. Human life is designed to be a life of communion with God. Do our choices foster such communion with our God or detract from it? And that really is the essence of this model. Okay, so next week, like I mentioned, we are going to look at how the communion model functions. We've kind of looked at it today of what it is, what does it mean, We'll also look at special challenges to the community model. This is a typical format that Gordon is following in his chapters for each of the models. Then we'll look at questions for discussion and reflection. And we'll look at an example of the community model in action. All right, so before we close up, I do want to open the floor up, since we have a few minutes here. Any questions or comments or discussion on what we've looked at today, as far as the communion model goes? Specifically, what it is. Like I said, we'll look at next time more how to apply it. But specifically, what it is and what it means to live a life in communion with our Creator. And the first thing I noted when you started speaking about that was, again, we're defaulting to this idea that we pursue prayer more when we're in times of difficulty or distress or concern, when in reality we should pursue prayer at all times. If things were going great, if all our lives were wonderful, we should still be in prayer just as much, right? What's that? Yeah. Right, and that may be a big symptom of nominal Christianity. Yeah, but I guess specifically you're asking how should our prayers be formed given the situation we're in as a nation? Well, again, we can look at the different types of prayers and psalms. There's not just lament. Well, number one, we looked at the model of lament, right? We not only bring our concerns and cares before our God, but we trust in God, we trust in His sovereignty and realize that you know, like the Bible teaches, God takes care of His people. So, we may be suffering, but ultimately we can trust in God and His sovereign providence. But it also speaks about, you know, praise and whether it's mourning. I mean, all the different ways we can pray. So, I think I think many of those different ways we can pray, they shouldn't be put in boxes, right? You shouldn't be like, well, when times are hard, I'll say a prayer of mourning. When times are good, I'll say a prayer of praise. There's no reason why we can't praise Him even in our suffering. There's no reason why we can't Feel the suffering of others even when we're doing really well, right? So I think praying for our nation involves more than just Praying for those who may be suffering Pastors flipping through his Bible Yeah Right Oh, I see. Well, yeah, you asked, like, is there kind of a priority? Is that what you were saying? Yeah, I think. How are you involved in my decision? The corporate aspect of the wisdom model, right? Yeah. And looking for spiritually mature believers to trick their minds and see their wisdom and their experience in when making their decisions, personal decisions. Well, and to your question, Justin, talking about the spiritually mature, right? That's not a geographic location. That's not saying that, OK, it's my local church. That's where I look for the most spiritual maturity is my local church. That's not necessarily the case. We're talking about the invisible church, right? You may know someone, a very spiritually mature person that goes to a different church, right? And nothing wrong at all with receiving wisdom from that brother or sister. Yeah, that's part of the sharing of the suffering in the body, right? Yeah, exactly. Right. Yeah, and that's a good point, because even in our corporate settings, and this is just human nature, we tend to just think of, OK, what do I need? How am I hurting, or how's my family hurting, my friends hurting? We forget to mention, oh, well, I do have a great place, I think. Lord did a wonderful thing in our lives this week, and I didn't mention it. Share that with your brothers and sisters. And often we mistakenly think of it as a burden, right? I don't want to put my burden upon everyone else. I'll just keep this to myself and pray about it on my own. That's true, yes. I have to admit, I don't have everything in order in my life. Well, and that's the model of being a family, right? And to be a truly close family, you know each other very intimately. You know each other's sufferings or weaknesses, things that we usually try to guard and hide, right? I need to be opening this one around. All right, we're out of time. Let's just close up. Yeah, let's just close up and pray real quick. Brother Q, can you say a prayer for us real quick?