Oh, it's so good to be here. I'm amazed that it's 10 years. 10 years. We will be going through the Bible like Brother Travis did this morning, to various texts. First place we'll go to, so I'll say open your Bibles, if you would, to Colossians chapter one. We're not gonna stand up and read today, we'll do that next week. Or no, a couple weeks after that. Next week I'm going to preach on the birth of Christ.

Ten years ago, though, by the grace and mercy of God, according to His eternal plan, we arrived here December 15th, 2015. And the next night, I started a study, December 16, in the Book of Colossians. And we learned a lot as we went through the Book of Colossians, and I named this message, 10 Years, Some Things We've Learned. Some Things We've Learned.

And let us remember, too, that everything we've learned has been revealed to us. We may have read the passages that we've studied through the years, But God gives us a greater understanding of those, doesn't he? The Holy Spirit, as he illuminates them. And as he teaches us more and more the things of Christ. And that's what he does. He takes the preaching of the gospel, and I like what Donnie said, somewhere between my mouth and your hearts, he takes it and uses it. Isn't that amazing? So the preacher's just a mouthpiece, isn't he? instrument. Like I said last week, he's like a a scalpel in a doctor's hands. The scalpel can't do anything of its own, can it? But in the hands of a master physician, they can accomplish what they will. In the hands of the master, the preacher preaches the word and God makes it effectual. Just instruments in the hands of the Lord. Save sinners just like you all.

You've heard me say for the last 10 years, I'm no better than any of you. Matter of fact, I'm probably worse. I know myself. But praise God, I'm saved. Praise God, I'm redeemed. You say that with me, right? Praise God. We're washed in the blood. Washed in the blood.

So the next night, I began preaching from the book of Colossians. In the last 10 years, it's been wonderful. We travel through many books of the scripture, haven't we? I'm not gonna hit on every book we've went through, but I'm gonna hit on a couple books we went through and what we've learned. And it's all about Christ. It's all about Christ. There'll be a couple passages I'll go through with Brother Travis. I'll be going to Philippians chapter two. You know, but it's wonderful. We learned a lot in Philippians. We learned that humility leads to unity. And again, as Brother Travis said, we had the example of Christ coming and serving God. He put himself as a servant. We are all servants of the master, aren't we? And remember, we're all on equal ground. The ground of the foot of the cross doesn't have a little hump for one person. It's all even, like Scott said. I love that. It's even.

And you know what? We're all washed in the same blood, aren't we? The blood of Jesus Christ. And we're all clothed in the same righteousness, aren't we? The righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And praise God, he saved us from our sins. Just as it says in Matthew 121, he shall save his people from their sins. And he did it, didn't he? He did it.

Oh my. I love you all dearly. And again, I'm honored to be your pastor. I'm honored to be your pastor. I'm honored that the Lord Jesus Christ sent me to pastor. But I'm your brother. I'm a fellow sheep like you. Let us never forget that. We're all journeying through this world together, aren't we? It's wonderful. And as the Lord puts things upon my heart, I'll share them with you. That's really what preaching is. God guides us to a text, and then we share what we've learned. Isn't that amazing? So we're all growing together by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. It's absolutely incredible.

Again, as I said earlier, we've seen some brothers and sisters graduate into heaven. And there's always sorrow all that time for us because they're gone, but for them, that's a glorious day. That's a glorious day to be in the presence of the Lord. And remember, beloved, we who are the born-again, blood-washed children of God, we will see them again. And you know, that'll be wonderful, but you know what'll be more wonderful? We'll be looking at Christ, our Redeemer, with them. with them. We're saying, glory to the Lamb that was slain. My, oh, my.

Now, I want us to consider some things that we've learned through our various studies in the last 10 years. And again, as always, the focus will always be upon Christ. It'll always be upon Christ. Because all the studies we've done have focused upon Christ. And that's really what the preacher and the teacher is to do. We are to put Christ before you. That's what we're to do.

You know what's funny? I often think about this. You know, sometimes people put out all these books about how to be a better Christian, how to be this. I don't know how to be a better Christian. I'm just looking at Christ. I'm a sinner saved by grace. I can't give you any advice because I'm struggling all the time too. You ever think of that, these folks that write these books? My, the best thing for us to say is let's just look to Christ, right? Let's just look to the Redeemer. He's the only one who can help us.

And I love the fact that He tells us that He'll never leave us nor forsake us, that He's ever with us. Oh, how that warms my heart. And I love the fact that He's God. If God saved you, you're saved. Isn't that wonderful? If salvation's dependent upon something you do, then we're doomed, aren't we? But if our salvation rests upon Christ, my, this person used to say, sink or swim, I trust in him. I love that. I love that. You get some doubts in your mind, Lord, I'm just hanging on to you. Sink or swim, I'm gonna trust you. Because doubts assail us, don't they? Let's be honest. Sink or swim, Lord. I'm going to trust in you. You are my savior. My salvation is not dependent upon how I feel or how I think. It's dependent upon you, Lord Jesus. All what he's done. Isn't that wonderful?

So here's some things that we've learned, again, and we've only learned these things by the revelation of God, the Holy Spirit, teaching us these things. Turn again, if you would, to Colossians chapter one.

One of the things that I was told before I got here by Jean-Claude, and I thought this was some of the wisest advice, he said, No matter what you do, no matter what you preach, always give Christ the preeminence. You've heard me say that many times. I'm gonna keep saying it. You're gonna hear it some more in the next 10 years, or however long. I just, I don't know how long the Lord's gonna let me live. However long the Lord let me live, you're gonna hear it. Always, and this is for all of us, always give Christ the preeminence. He must have the preeminence.

And this is really the vein of the book of Colossians is that people were saying that there's other ways to God and that Christ is merely an angel, one of the steps towards God. And so Paul's writing, and those people that believe that are called Gnostics. So Paul's writing to the Gnostics, or writing to the Colossians who are being assailed by the Gnostics. And he says this to them in Colossians chapter one, Verses 15 to 18. He says, this is speaking of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Look at this. We're going to be told here by Paul that he's the creator.

For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, things we can't even see. Oh my. Whether they be thrones, Brother Travis bought forth that the Lord moves the heart of the king, whatever way he wills, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things. Look at that. All things. That includes Satan and all the fallen angels and all the elect angels. All things. That includes the microscopic little creatures in our ground that we don't even see unless you look under a microscope. All things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.

And He is the head of the body of the church, who is the beginning of the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have what? Somebody tell me. Amen. Preeminence. So he must have preeminence in our lives. Christ must be the preeminent one. Isn't that wonderful? And we gladly own that as born-again believers, don't we? Washed in the blood of Christ. We own that. Oh, he gets all the glory. He gets all the honor. He gets all the praise. Isn't that wonderful? Absolutely wonderful.

Then over in chapter two, turn if you would to Colossians chapter two, we learn this, that salvation from our sins is only found in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is a fact that we need to keep close to our hearts. We are complete in him. There's nothing to be added. That means there's no works for us to do. We are complete in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? Complete in Him. Absolutely complete in Him. Look at this. Colossians chapter 2. Look at verses 9 and 10. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That's talking about Christ. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power. If we're complete in Christ, there's nothing to be added. There's nothing to be added.

Now turn, if you would, to John chapter 17. We went through John chapter 17. That was a wonderful study. And there was a verse that just set me off when I saw it. And I'm still thinking about it. And it focuses on the everlasting love of God.

The everlasting love of God. that God the Father does not love us like our human dads do. You may have had a great loving relationship with your dad, and you may not have had a great loving relationship with your dad. But God is a father who loves us with an everlasting love, an unfailing, unchanging love. It's not dependent upon circumstances, It's not dependent upon what we do. It's all dependent upon Christ. All dependent upon Christ.

And brother Brian knows in Christ, he loves him with an everlasting love. Unchanging. He's the same yesterday, today and forever, right? So his love has never changed from eternity. Now that is really hard for us to grasp. It really is. because we're finite beings and sometimes we can love someone and then, eh, right? You ever had that happen in your life where someone was really, really close to you and you thought, oh man, that person's so close to me? And then they just wander away in your life. You're like, wow, what happened? Well, we don't know.

But this love, Everlasting love look at this in John chapter 17 here Our blessed Savior. He's the king of kings in the Lord of Lords, and he's a refuge, isn't he? He's a refuge from our sins. He's a refuge from the law of God. He's a refuge from the wrath of God He's reference against all judgments from God against us for our sins and

And think of this, I was talking to Zane and Brian about this this week. If the Lord should mark iniquity, who should stand? If the Lord would mark our sins, who should stand before him? Not one of us. But praise God. There is a people that he's loved with an everlasting love. Who he chose in Christ, his brother Travis, before the foundation of the world.

Oh, look at this. Look at this, John chapter 17. Now, he prayed for the apostles, and now, you know who he's gonna pray for? Us. How do we know that? Well, look at verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone, that's talking about the apostles, but then for them also, which shall believe on me through their word. Beloved, Sister Carolyn, the Lord prayed for us 2,000 years ago. Oh my, isn't that wonderful? And not just for us, but for all the elect who will come after us until his coming.

Look at this, what's he praying? That they may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Again, I love what Travis said. The world there doesn't mean the whole world. There's a specific people. There's a specific people. In the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them. that they may be one even as we are one.

Now look at this, look at verse 23. Okay, here we go. I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that the world may know that thou has sent me. So he's sent from God, he's the Messiah sent from God. And here we go. And has loved them as thou has loved me. Let us just let this sink in, what the Lord just told us. He's just told us that the Father loves us as he loves Christ. We can't even measure that. We in our minds can't even come close to computing that, can we?

Like I said, I've not got over this. I'm still chewing on this. That God loves me, a sinner, and you, if you're a believer, as he loves Christ? That's what our Lord just told us, isn't it? Remember, this is the high priestly prayer. He's praying to the Father. I'll read that again. I'm gonna read that last part again. that they may know that thou hast sent me and has loved them, that's God's people, his elect, those he's praying for, as thou has loved me. There it is right there. How much does God love us? With an everlasting love. How much does God love us, God the Father love us? Like he loves Christ.

You know why? Because we're in Christ. Right? Ain't that amazing? All because of him. And earlier in the chapter, he said, I finished the work that thou has sent me to do. And he lived that perfect life, right? So he was sent to live a perfect life that we never could. And then he's gonna go to the cross next. And he's gonna give his life as a ransom for our souls. His blood's gonna be shed. to be offered up to God to redeem us from all our sins. And remember, he's offering himself up to God when he's dying on the cross for our sins. The sinless one is offering himself up to God. The sinless one for sinners such as we. Now we've learned that, haven't we? And we've learned that now in a greater extent, haven't we? And are we not more in awe now than we were say, 15, 20 years ago, it just keeps getting more and more better. It just keeps getting more and more amazing what Christ has done for us.

My. Then we study the book of Psalm, and turn if you would to the book of Psalm in chapter 4. and put your fingers in chapter four and chapter one. We'll go to chapter four first. We studied the book of Solomon, and we found out, oh, how much Christ loves his bride. My, do you know that even though we're sinful, we're beautiful in his eyes? You know that? Isn't that amazing? Do you know that we're beautiful in the eyes of Christ? We're valuable to him. He shed His blood to save us, didn't He? Oh my! It's wonderful.

Look at this in Song of Solomon chapter 4, verse 1. This is Christ speaking to His bride. Behold, now take a look at this. This is amazing. He says to His bride, who are born sinners, but are now born again. He says to his bride, behold, thou art fair, my love. Look what he calls us. My love. My love. That's what I call Vicki. I call her my love all the time. And it's not from here. It's just something I've done for years. But it's very much a term of endearment from me to her. But how much more from the Lord Jesus Christ are we who are his people? He says, behold, thou art fair, my love. Behold, thou art fair and has dove's eyes.

You know, doves mate for life. And they only have eyes for each other. When a dove's mate dies, they don't go and find another one. It's said that they have like a tunnel vision for each other. Oh My that was Dove's eyes Within my locks the hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Mount Gilead Those must have been beautiful goats a Must have been But you see something here to see twice That the The Lord Jesus Christ calls his bride fair. Look at that. Behold, thou art fair, my love. Behold, thou art fair. Do you know what that word means in Hebrew? Beautiful. Behold, thou art beautiful, my love. Oh, it changes the, isn't that wonderful? Behold, thou art beautiful. Twice he tells his bride, Beautiful. I looked it up again last night in case I got it wrong.

Now turn over to chapter 1. And here's the bride. Here's now the bride speaking to the daughters of Jerusalem. So the bride is all the elect of God. Notice in verse 5, the bride says, I am black. What does that picture? Well, that picture's our sin. Black with sin. I read something this week, and it was pretty amazing. You ever hear the phrase, God loves the sinner but hates the sin? You ever hear that phrase? Yeah. I used to say it all the time. I'll never say it again. You know why? You can't separate the two. You can't separate the sinner from their sin. And how do we know that? Well, scripture tells us that we are sinners from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet. A.W. Pink wrote that. He said you can't, it's a contradiction. You can't separate them. And that's why you've heard me say we're sinner saints. We're still sinners and yet we're saints.

My. And as Zane talked to me about this week too, the scripture says God's angry with the wicked. Why? Because they're a bunch of sinners, just like us. Right? And what's the difference between us? We're still wicked, aren't we? But our sins aren't counted against us. Isn't that amazing? That's grace. But God looks at us and he doesn't see our sin. I still marvel over that. I remember the first or second year I was here, I was reading a book by F.W. Kramacher, and he brought out that God looks at us and he doesn't see our sin. And I was just, oh my gosh, he said, he sees Christ. Oh man, I got a hold of that. Isn't that wonderful?

Do we feel righteous? Brother Chris, do we feel righteous? We don't feel righteous at all, do we? But we're made righteous. Do you sin more than you want to, sister? Me too, me too. But we're righteous in Christ. There'll be a day when we will never sin again. Won't that be glorious? Won't that be glorious to be in heaven and never sin again? That's where our brothers and sisters are right now. Totally sinless.

But you know, we're already righteous right now. We're already righteous. As Travis was preaching, he brought up a couple of words of sanctification, how we're sanctified. Did you notice how it was speaking that we're already sanctified, brother? That word means to be made holy. And it's nothing we do. We're sanctified in Christ. And Brother Mahan used to say this. I marvel at this statement. He used to say, the saints on earth are just as holy as the saints in heaven, because they're all in Christ.

I don't feel holy, do you? But we're already in Christ. And again, we're sinner saints. So what a day that'll be when we never sin again. What a day that will be.

Turn with me, if you would, to the book of 1 John. We went through 1 John, and we found out we have an advocate with the Father. We have an advocate. What's an advocate? Well, someone who takes our place, someone who's a mediator, a go-between, a defense lawyer. Do you know we have an advocate with the Father? Yeah. We have someone mediating for us.

What was that? I listened to someone, I think it was Milton Howard this week, and he was talking in one of his little five-minute messages. He says, you know, Satan's the accuser of the brethren, and he accuses us, and God the Father just looks over at Christ, and Christ goes, He's one of mine. She's one of mine. Covered in my blood. Whoo! Man, that'll get you excited, won't it? Oh, my.

Look at this. Look at this in 1 John 1-4. We will see here. We learned this too. And this is something that I knew they were eyewitnesses. But it never dawned on me that them hearing the word of Christ, they're earwitnesses as well. So they're double witnesses. The apostles are double witnesses of the Lord. They saw his miracles and they heard his teachings. Oh, my.

Now, in our court of law and in our society, if you have a witness to something, right, then it can pretty well be looked at as truth. Well, they're double witnesses. And the one who's writing this epistle was John the Beloved. Look at this, this is beautiful.

1 John 1, verses 1 to 4.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, look at that, they heard him. Just like when you and I talk to each other, we hear each other. Isn't that amazing? They heard him. They heard the word of God speak. They heard God incarnate in the flesh speak, which we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes. They looked upon him. They sat across a table from him like we do with one another. They saw him. In our hands of handle, they embraced him. He embraced them. like we do when we see each other. We greet one another. Do you know, as I said in the Greek, the salute is to give each other a hug? When Paul says, salute the brethren, he's saying give them a hug. Embrace them. So they embraced him. Our hands have handled of the word of life. For this life was manifest and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifest unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things I write unto you. that your joy may be full.

My, oh my. Then in chapter two, look at this. Verses one and two, look at this, this is wonderful. My little children, these things I write unto you, that ye sin not, and if any man sin, well, we're gonna sin, aren't we? Because we're still sinners. We're sinner saints. If any man sin, we have. Not we might. Not we based upon our character. Not based upon our doing. We have. We have an advocate with the Father. And look at his name. Oh, what a title. Jesus Christ the righteous. What a title! Do you know He's called the Lord Our Righteousness? He's all our righteousness, isn't He? Oh my! And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world, for all who will believe upon Him. For all who will believe upon Him.

Then go over to chapter 5. Here's something else we learned. You know, as I said, we all get doubting, don't we? All of us have doubts sometimes. When we do, we need to turn to this portion of scripture. You know, scripture says, make your election and calling sure. You know what that is? To look at who you're trusting right now. for the salvation of your soul. Not something you may have said years ago. Right now. Who are you trusting right now? It must be Jesus Christ alone. And we see here, if you're trusting in Christ alone, and His blood and righteousness to save you, and you're born again in the Holy Spirit of God, look at this, what it says in 1 John 5, verses 12 to 13. All right, let's start in verse 11. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in who? His Son, amen, His Son. So there it is, right there. Eternal life is in no one but the Son of God. No matter what anyone else says, God says eternal life is only in His Son. So the true author, remember, of these scriptures is God the Holy Spirit. And then he goes on to say this. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Do you have Christ? Is he your all in all? Oh, is he the fairest of 10,000 to your soul? Is he your only refuge from your sin, the only salvation from your sin, the only salvation from the judgment of God, the only salvation from hell? He's my everything the believer says right?

Well, let's see what what the Holy Spirit has John Penn then My oh my These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God now take note there It's not to everyone It's to those who believe on the Son of God So the question is do you believe? Are you born again by the Holy Spirit of God? Have He given you faith to look to Christ? Okay, let's see what He's gonna tell us here. Look at this. That ye may know. Not that you might doubt. Not that you might get anxious. That ye may know. How do we know? Because we're trusting the Son. that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. Now, what's this telling us? This is clearly telling us that eternal life only comes in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the Son of God. And if you believe on Him, rejoice, beloved, rejoice, because God saved you. It's not our doing, is it? God saved us from all our sins. And I found personally in the last 10 years that the understanding of that has come in a greater amount, but yet, as Brother Zane and I always talk about, I'm still seeing through a glass darkly. But oh, the little bit I know, Oh, I hold on to my King, right? He's everything. He's everything. And in Him, look at that, we can know that we have eternal life.

Now, you tell some people that, and they'll look at you really funny. They'll say, that's presumptuous of you. No, it's not, because the Bible says it. If I'm believing on the Son of God, if I'm born again by the Holy Spirit of God, washed in the blood of Christ, being given faith to believe on Christ, I have eternal life, right? See, the enemy sometimes will get doubts in our minds, and I've had them many times. How can you be a Christian and be like that? But in these last 10 years, I've learned more and more that my salvation is not dependent upon me. And praise God, it's not. Right? It's 100% dependent upon Christ.

Now, I've been listening to Milton Howard. I love how he stresses, though, that these things, knowing these truths, will not cause us to go out and live a riotless life. It'll actually cause us to close in on Christ. Because we know it's our sin that put him on the cross. It's our sin that He willingly gave His life for. It's our sin that He shed His blood to cleanse us from all our sin. And it's absolutely amazing.

Turn, if you would, to Jeremiah, chapter 23. Jeremiah, chapter 23. We've learned that the Lord is our righteousness, haven't we? More and more. We may have known that, but I found I have a little bit more of an understanding of that. Not a lot, but a little bit more. And we've learned again through the years that he's at the father's side, interceding for his elect. Look at this in Jeremiah chapter 23, verse six.

You know, people say, well, When I stand in front of God, my good will outweigh my bad. No, it won't. Because you're a sinner, just like me. And if a person stands before God unsaved, they're clothed in their own righteousness, aren't they? But you know, you know who's our righteousness? Do you know who's all our righteousness? Someone tell me. Christ is all our righteousness, isn't he? All our righteousness. And it's because of him that we can stand in the presence of God. That sinners washed in the blood of Christ can come to the throne of grace boldly and ask of our Lord. Carry our burdens to him.

Look at this. This is magnificent Jeremiah 23 6 in his days judah shall be saved and israel shall dwell safely And this is his name whereby he shall be called the lord our righteousness So our righteousness the bible tells us Is like filthy rags, which is just it's it's awful in god's sight. It's horrible in god's sight But for the believer in Christ, he's born again, blood-washed. He is the Lord our righteousness.

Now, this can give believers great comfort, beloved, great comfort, to know by revelation of the Holy Spirit of God that the Lord Jesus Christ is all our righteousness, all our righteousness. What calm that can give us. How that can quiet our restless spirit. How that can quiet times of trouble. How that can calm different things that we go through in this life, knowing that the Lord is our righteousness. God is our righteousness, because he's God in the flesh, isn't he? Oh my. And what peace to think on the perfect righteousness of Christ. Contemplate it sometimes. He lived a perfect life for us. And that's counted for us. He never sinned once. And all we are is sin. My. So if we're downcast and sad, Let us remember that Christ is our perfection. He's our perfection, beloved. Everything God demanded for the salvation of our souls, God provided in Christ. Everything. He's our perfection. We'll be made perfect when we get to glory, won't we? We won't sin no more. Oh my, but right now, He's our perfection. God looks at us, he sees Christ.

Oh, I love him. I love her. That's one of mine that I gave my son. Oh, my. My, oh, my. And there's many who's always talking about corruption and depravity of the heart and the evil of the soul. And all those things are true. They're all true. They really are. And we are depraved. Our soul is full of evil. But let us read the rest of God's word and see that we are perfect in Christ Jesus. Not in ourselves. We're still sinner saints, but we're perfect in Christ. That's a fizz in time, isn't it? Yeah, but it's true. My. God says in this word that Christ has made unto us righteousness, and that ought to cheer us up, eh? That ought to cheer us up.

There are many things that will afflict us. Satan will assault us. Enemies of God will distress us. And we'll experience many things before we get to heaven, before we get to heaven. But righteousness is already completed for us. It's already done. You know, when people say, oh, I'm doing the best I can. And when I get to God, my good will outweigh my bad. What they're saying is their righteousness is perfect. No, I don't want my righteousness to you. I look to the Lord who is my righteousness. Oh my. So what a hope we have, beloved. What joy can fill our souls. The Lord is our righteousness. The Lord is our righteousness. And this is all according to God's covenant of divine grace. And you know what? There is absolutely, absolutely, because the Lord is our righteousness, there's absolutely nothing lacking to allow us to stand in the presence of God. Hallelujah. Nothing lacking in Christ. Oh, my. That's wonderful, isn't it?

On the cross, Jesus said, it's finished. And you know what? It was not finished until he said it was finished. Right? Oh yeah. And when he said it's finished, you know what? It's finished. Right? And beloved of God, if it's finished, then as we looked at in Colossians chapter 2, then we're complete in him. Let us rejoice, beloved. And you know what? People say, well, if you believe in election, it kills evangelism and it kills serving God. No, this makes you want to serve God even more. This makes you want to talk to others even more. We don't know who the elect are. It's wonderful that the Lord is my righteousness, that I'm complete in Christ. Everything God demands for the salvation of my soul, Christ has already done it and more? Yeah? What a Savior. See, isn't this gospel glorious? It's the gospel of God's grace. My. On the cross, he said, it's finished. It's wonderful. We can rejoice with joy unspeakable, full glory. that our salvation is already completed by Christ alone.

I remember being in a religion that was all about what I was gonna do, what I had to do. It was awful. It was awful. Kept trying, I'd go home from a service, I'd already feel tore apart, because the preacher ripped me apart, right? So I go home just like this. with Vicki, I don't measure up. I'm never good enough. You ever went through that? Oh, yeah? Oh, man, he must have been talking about me. You know what? My job is not to shear sheep. My job is to put Christ before me. Say, look, let us look together at the Lord, our righteousness. Right? Let us leave here rejoicing with joy unspeakable that God has saved me through Christ Jesus, our Lord. That's a miracle of grace, isn't it? That's a miracle of grace.

And then you know what? As a result of knowing that, we desire to serve God. We desire to live for Christ. That's amazing. That's amazing.

My. You know, Milton Howard said this. You will not find on this side of heaven a holier people than those who receive into their hearts the comfort of Christ's righteousness. We're already holy, beloved. We're sinners, and yet we're saints. We're sinners, and yet we're holy in Christ. That'll cause us to kick our feet together, won't it? Right? Oh my.

Oh, when the believer says, I live on Christ alone and rest on him solely for salvation, and we believe that however unworthy we are, we are still saved in the Lord Jesus Christ. No matter how unworthy we feel, if Christ is our Savior, no matter how unworthy we feel, no matter how downcast we can be, Christ is still our Savior.

We went through some dark times. We went through some dark times together, didn't we? But who kept us? Christ kept us. I know you all have went through dark times in your life, too. Some hard, heavy burdens. But never forget Christ is with you. He's carrying you all the way through it. All the way through it, beloved. And it's absolutely amazing.

My, oh my. How do you think Joseph felt when his brothers sold him into slavery. You think he was confused? Yeah. Think he might have been a little stressed out? Yeah. He trusted God, though, didn't he? And see, when we went through that life of Joseph's study, we saw the sovereignty of God unfolding, didn't we? We saw how all things work for good for those who love Christ and for those who are called, those who are called and those, I'll read it again, I got it right here. All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Joseph was sold into slavery, then purchased by Potiphar in a country, foreign country, he's in Egypt, Then by God's providence, he rose up in Potiphar's house and he became taking care of everything for Potiphar. And then Potiphar's wife got eyes for him, didn't she? And then he was falsely accused of trying to sleep with her. And I love what he said. He said, if I do this, first of all, I sin against God, then I sin against Potiphar, then we sin. See, always remember our sin first is against God. That's what makes it incredible that God himself has forgiven us of all our sins. Through Christ Jesus, our Lord. My.

And then he raises up to be prime minister over all of Egypt. He got tossed into prison with a baker and a butler. Butler goes back up to be with the king. The baker dies, thinking of the two thieves. One was spared. One perished. Right? Butler was spared. Baker perished. And then Joseph gets raised up to be prime minister of all Israel. And you know what he says to his brethren? He says this to his brethren. But for you, ye thought evil against me. But God made it unto good to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Do you think Joseph at first was thinking, well, this is working for my good. No, he's probably confused and perplexed. like all of us are in the circumstances that we go through. But we have to keep reminding ourselves, Brother Chris and I have been talking about this, we have to keep reminding ourselves that it really is happening for our good and for God's glory. We don't see it, but it really is. It really is.

A lot of times those times of tribulation and trials actually draw us closer to Christ. Draw us closer to Him. He hems us up, we got nowhere else to go, do we? We got nowhere else to go.

And then we studied the book of Ecclesiastics, where we learned that everything this world holds dear is just but vanity. Nothing. Of no importance. It's a means to an end. It's a means to an end. We need money to buy food, and we eat, right? It's just a means to an end, right? We gather together here, we support the work, and the gospel is here and it goes out into the world. We are here for the furtherance of the gospel. That's amazing. That's amazing.

And we get the privilege of loving each other and being with each other, as I said, for the last 10 years, and you guys before I even got here, for years before that. Isn't that wonderful?

Turn, if you would, to Galatians. Galatians. And put your finger in Philippians. So we learned in Ecclesiastes that everything is vanity. Ecclesiastes 12, 13, Solomon summed it up like this. He said, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God. and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Fear God and keep his commandments.

Aren't you thankful that Christ kept all the commandments of God for us? Now, I don't believe that a born-again person wants to go contrary to God's law. None of us want to kill. We don't want to blaspheme the Lord's name. We want to gather together, right? But praise God, we're not under it. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful?

Look at this in Galatians chapter three. We marveled at this. Galatians chapter three, verses 10 to 14. For as many as are the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, curse is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. That's really clear, isn't it? If you want to live by the law, you got to do them all.

James, when we studied James, he told us that if you break one of the laws, you're guilty of breaking them all. Look at this. Look at how clear this is. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. So, you know what that's telling us? That's telling us people that are doing the law, they're thinking, oh, I'm justifying myself in front of man. In front of man, but not in front of God.

Man might think, well, look at that fellow, man. Remember that Pharisee? I do, I do, I do all these things. And that publican, I love that publican. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Just have mercy on me, Lord. I'm nothing. I'm just a poor sinner and nothing at all. But Lord Jesus, you're my all in all. My.

But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. The just shall live by what? Faith. That faith has one center, that's Christ Jesus our Lord. And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them.

Christ, look at this, this is such a vital portion of scripture right here. Christ, now does it say might of? Does it say may? Does it say dependent upon what we do? No, because that would go contrary to the rest of the scripture, doesn't it? Christ hath. Christ hath redeemed us. He purchased our souls. From what? From the curse of the law. Oh my. being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. Why? That the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Now I'll turn quickly to Philippians chapter 2. And I'm going to go over a portion that Brother Travis went through. I'm not going to go as far as Brother Travis went. Philippians chapter 2. Look at this in verse 1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if there be any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love, Being of one accord of one mind.

Of one accord. That's unity, right? How does unity come? We learn this. This is a lesson I learned, and Vicki and I have been talking about it. We both learned this through that study in Philippians. Unity, or humility, leads to unity. Which is not vaulting each other up, right? not looking to be in charge. I'm your pastor, but I'm just like you. I'm commissioned by the Lord to preach the gospel, but I'm a safe sinner just like you. And look what it says here. I love this, how clear he is. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. So don't be trying to one-up people. Don't be trying to usurp authority over people. Don't be trying to do it all. Right? Don't be controlling. And don't cause strife. Because what does strife? Strife leads to disunity. Right? Humility, lowliness of mind, esteeming others better than ourselves leads to unity. Isn't that amazing? And the Holy Spirit works that in us, beloved.

I'll tell you a funny story. I've told it, I think I've told it like five times over the last 10 years. When Vicki and I first met, she drew a picture. She found out I like lions, so she drew this beautiful lion, right? And she called it Meekness. She penned on it, Meekness was the name of the picture. And she told me, don't ever tell someone they're meek. She told me, she said, well, I did that because you're so meek. And you know what I was doing? I worked at a hardware store. I was going around people's, my fiance thinks I'm meek. Yeah, let me tell you. Man, pride is awful, isn't it? You see? See how meekness and lowliness of mind is something that God the Holy Spirit works in us, right? And we're all proud by nature. I don't have to tell you that. I don't have to tell you. We all are, aren't we?

But to esteem others better than ourselves is what we should be doing. And Paul, Paul's gonna tell us here. If there therefore be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercy, fulfill ye my joy that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind, that nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. That's humility. Let us each esteem other better than ourselves. And how do we do that? Well, we just look at ourselves and say, I know better than anyone else. And then when I look at you in Christ, oh my. So we look at each other in Christ. Because if you look at me, I'll tell you what, there's a lot of things that you can pick apart about me. Right? That's true of all of us, isn't it? But if we look at each other in Christ, in the love of Christ, my. I thank you guys, you don't, you chuckle with my Canadian backwoods stuff. You know, but, because every once in a while something still comes out, but that's who I am. Right? That's who I am. Or we mispronounce a word or something and you don't, you know, you just, I never noticed that. It's awesome, because we love each other. And I don't esteem myself better than you, I esteem you guys better than myself. Yeah, and that's how it should be, right? when we see each other in Christ. And that'll lead to unity.

Look at this. Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. And I love what Brother Travis said, let us have the mind of Christ. And that is how we will be, how we will, ah, we will be brought low, is knowing that we're just servants. And the amazing thing is that the master saved the servants.

Look what it says here. Verse five, or verse four. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. Being found in the fashion of men, he humbled himself, and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every name.

What a Savior. And we've learned, we've learned these things over the last 10 years, maybe come to a greater understanding of them, all by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. I'm not going to claim in knowing anything except through him. Right? We can't even get proud about what we know, can we? We gotta give God all the glory.

And you know what it does? The more we learn about Christ, the more we fall in love with him, and the more we fall in love with his gospel, the more we fall in love with his word, the more we fall in love with his people. It's true. I've seen it. I've seen it right before my eyes, and I felt that in my heart for you all. Isn't that amazing? Isn't God good? Isn't God so good?

So I look forward to being here as long as the Lord gives us to be together. I look forward to the Holy Spirit teaching us and us growing in the knowledge and wisdom of Christ by His power, according to the will and purpose of God the Father. And you know what? Let us rejoice. in the wonderful things that Christ has done for us. Amen and amen.