08 Apr Divine Revelation

Last Sunday, we celebrated Easter, and Pastor Jason began our new series: “The Risen Christ,” with a sermon from 1 Corinthians 1-11. We considered the truth that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only solution to our sin problem.

Read: John 20:11-18

This Sunday, Pastor Will Jackson will preach from John 20:11-18 and will encourage us to see and follow the real Jesus. In this text, we see Mary Magdalene’s complete dependence upon Jesus’ revelation of himself to her. Prior to his revelation, Mary was in utter despair, sobbing in her perceived reality that Jesus was now dead and that his body had been taken. Upon his revelation, however, Mary’s hope was restored along with her understanding of reality. Jesus is risen! Since Jesus is risen, all that he has said, done, and promised is true. Ultimately, our sin is atoned for, and we now have peace with God and hope beyond the grave in Jesus Christ. Jesus then commissioned Mary to go and tell the disciples the good news of his resurrection.

Like Mary, we can often have a false understanding of Jesus and be led astray into hopelessness, despair, sinfulness, and ultimately, idolatry. Like Mary, we are ever dependent upon Christ revealing himself to us. Thankfully, he has revealed himself to us through the gospel, His Word, and by the power of His Spirit. We must now prayerfully submit to him through these means and walk in the eternal hope that is ours in Christ. Further, as God commissioned Mary to go and tell, God has commissioned us to go and tell this glorious news to the world, making disciples of all people for God’s glory.

As you prepare for our corporate gathering, let this prayer from The Valley of Vision give guidance to your own.

Reflect: “Regeneration”

O God of the Highest Heaven,

Occupy the throne of my heart, take full possession and reign supreme, lay low every rebel lust, let no vile passion resist thy holy war; manifest thy mighty power, and make me thine for ever. Thou art worthy to be praised with my every breath, loved with my every faculty of soul, served with my every act of life. Thou hast loved me, espoused me, received me, purchased, washed, favoured, clothed, adorned me, when I was worthless, vile, soiled, polluted. I was dead in iniquities, having no eyes to see thee, no ears to hear thee, no taste to relish thy joys, no intelligence to know thee;

But thy Spirit has quickened me, has brought me into a new world as a new creature, has given me spiritual perception, has opened to me thy Word as light, guide, solace, joy. Thy presence is to me a treasure of unending peace; No provocation can part me from thy sympathy, for thou hast drawn me with cords of love, and dost forgive me daily, hourly.

O help me then to walk worthy of thy love, of my hopes, and my vocation. Keep me, for I cannot keep myself; Protect me that no evil befall me; Let me lay aside every sin admired of many; Help me to walk by thy side, lean on thy arm, hold converse with thee, That henceforth I may be salt of the earth and a blessing to all.

“Regeneration,” in The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, Ed. Arthur Bennett

Sing: Song List for Sunday

1. “Praise the King,” Arr. Shane & Shane
2. “Weapon,” by Vertical Worship
3. “I Will Wait for You (Psalm 130),” by Keith & Kristyn Getty