Good evening, everyone. Colossians
chapter 2 is where we'll be tonight. Colossians 2, verse 6, but I'd
like to read the context of the text. The name of the message
is, As You Received Christ. As You Received Christ. So let's look at Colossians 2,
verses 1-7. For I would that ye knew what
great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and
for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their
hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto
all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ, in
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, And
this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the
flesh, yet I am with you in the Spirit, joying and beholding
your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
Him. Rooted and built up in Him, established
in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with
thanksgiving." So last week we looked at how Paul, though absent in the flesh and
in prison in Rome, rejoiced. Rejoiced as he heard of the Colossians'
faith and other churches as well. He rejoiced. Here he is in a
dungeon And he's rejoicing. He's rejoicing. And we saw that
he was rejoicing over the steadfastness of their faith and how it was
ordered and steadfast. And we saw that that means cemented,
that it's grounded. It has a good, strong foundation. And it's in Christ, Jesus our
Lord. And tonight, look at this verse
here. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, So walk ye in Him. So walk ye in Him. Tonight we'll
be looking at this verse where Paul continues to ground the
Colossian believers, our Colossian brothers, in the all-sufficiency
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's grounding them all through
this epistle so far by exalting the supremacy of Christ He's
been grounding them, giving them foundational truths about the
all-sufficiency of Christ. About how they don't need anything
else but Him and Him alone. And he did this over in Colossians
1.23 where he says this, If ye continue in the faith, grounded
and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel,
which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister."
So we as believers, just like the Colossians, we must cling
to Christ. We must. And it's not just a
one-time thing where we say, well, I'm saved now. No. The
believer clings for the rest of his days on this earth to
Christ. He's the one we cling to. And
we must cling to him. Why? Because he's the all-sufficient
one. He's the all-sufficient one.
There's sufficiency not in ourselves, right? No, not at all. No, we
desperately need Christ. We desperately need a savior.
So he's pointing them again and telling them to cling to Christ.
And they are to continue their walk of faith through this life.
Look at our verse again. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. They are to continue
their walk of faith through this life the same way it began. The same way it began. How? By faith. which is to trust,
to cling, to repose in Christ. And notice it says here, Christ
Jesus the Lord. There's not even a question of
whether He's Lord. There was a whole big thing in
the 80's about Lordship, Salvation, just make Jesus Lord of your
life. He's already Lord. And the believer,
the true believer, acknowledges that. that he's Lord. So how did the Colossians receive
Christ? By a simple childlike faith that
God had granted them? And repentance in Christ? And whom did they believe? Christ Jesus the Lord. Christ
Jesus the Lord. the very one whom Epaphras preached
to them. Epaphras preached the gospel,
and they believed it. The Holy Spirit granted them
faith. They were born again in the Holy
Spirit of God, and they believed. They believed. They believed
that the Lord Jesus Christ was the only Savior for sinners. You ask most people. You ask
most people. If you were to go out and say
to people, you know, heaven or hell, which one would you want
to go to? No one wants to go to hell. No one. They don't think they do. But
if you tell them that Christ is not a fire escape, He came
to save his people from their sins. You say, well, I'm not. Sinners, yeah, that's those guys
down the street there. But when God reveals to you and
me what we are, we see ourselves as sinners. And the scriptures
declare that Christ came to save his people from their sins, from
their sins. And God's people, The rule of
faith and life, which Paul brings to the forefront here for the
Colossian believers and for God's people, is that Christ, who was
preached to them by Epaphras and received by them through
faith, is the one who they are to abide in constantly, all the
time. And he's the one who they're
to walk in. Walk in faith, trusting and resting
in Christ. There's books written. You go
to these so-called Christian bookstores. They're not Christian
bookstores. They're anything but. And you'll
find books on how to change anything in your life almost. How? By your doing. This book tells us of one who
changes lives. The Lord Jesus Christ. This book
tells of one who came to save sinners. Sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ and him
alone. And this is who Epaphras preached
to the Colossians. This is the very one who Paul's
saying, how you received him, walk in him. By faith. By faith. Trust him. Trust him. So we must cling to Christ. And
there's no doubt, beloved, that the Colossian believers had been
taught that all the grounds of their salvation were to be placed
in Christ and Him alone. There's no doubt. Topher preached
the Gospel. There's no doubt that he preached
that. They'd been taught that Christ is Lord of our faith and
Lord of our life. And both our faith and our life.
And we see Paul doing this. Both our faith and our life are
to be directed to Christ. To be directed to Him. To look
to Him. To look to Him. And that as we
received Him, so we walk in Him. So we walk in Him by faith. So tonight's text, tonight's
text we'll be looking at will teach us about Jesus Christ our
Savior. Look at this again. As ye have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Now here is a fact stated before
the Colossian believers, that they had received Jesus Christ
the Lord. They had received Jesus Christ
the Lord. Now, sincere believers receive
Christ. They receive Christ. And this
is an old gospel word. Received. Received. This precious word has been maligned
by religion. It's been maligned by religion.
But beloved, this is a free grace word. This is a free grace word. Our faith, we know, was not something
we worked up from within. It's not something we worked
up from within, because the Bible says there's none that seeketh
after God. And it says there's none righteous.
Again, this is free grace language, beloved. This is free grace language
before us, received. We cannot earn it. We cannot
earn it. We cannot earn salvation. It's
only in Christ, and it must be received. It must be received. When someone gives you a gift,
what do you do? You receive it. You receive it. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. And think of this, too. A gift is something we don't
deserve. A gift is something we don't earn. If we've earned
something, then it's a reward or a payment. But a gift is something free,
something someone gives you and we receive it. We receive it. Look at Ephesians 2, verses 6
to 10. And hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For
by grace are ye saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is a gift of God. We receive it. It's a gift. It's a gift that's given by the
pure, free, and sovereign mercy of God to sinners. And just in case we thought it
wasn't anything we did, not of works. And that means any works. Remember, works means anything
in your mind or physically that you do. not of works, lest any man should
boast. For we are His workmanship."
If you're a saint of God, you're His workmanship. You're His workmanship. For we are His workmanship. Created
in who? Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus. Unto good works, and we know
from other scriptures, we don't even know when we do those, which
God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them." We should
walk in them. So, faith is not something we
can earn. Salvation is not something we
can earn. Repentance is not something we
can muster. These are gifts given to us. We are granted faith and repentance
to believe on Christ. to believe on Him. And we receive
that. The Holy Spirit regenerates us.
And we receive that gift from God. It's all His work. Salvation is of the Lord. The
gift of grace is received. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. And what happens? We flee right
to Christ. Right to Christ. Sinners who
maybe the day before were cursing His name. Regenerated by the Holy Spirit
of God. It's incredible. And it's something
only God can do. It's something only God can do.
So Paul's telling us in our text here, that as you have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. So in Ephesians it tells us what? It's a gift. It's a gift. Faith is a gift. It's a gift
from God. And turn over to John chapter
1. Look at how plainly this comes out in John chapter 1, verses
12 to 13. The fact that we can't earn it,
we don't deserve it. Look at John 1, 12 and 13. But as many, here's this word
again, as received Him, It's a free grace word, beloved. To them, look at this, it gave
He. So God's the one doing the giving.
Gave He power to become the sons of God. Even to them that believe
on His name. Well, we know from our text who
they believe on. Christ Jesus the Lord. Christ
Jesus the Lord. which were born, not of blood,
so it's not of heritage, it's not of the, so the Jews couldn't,
you know, I've heard people say, well, the Jews are automatically
in, because the Jews, no. No. Christ died for his elect. Spiritual Israel. Spiritual Israel. So scripture here declares, which
were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, so there
goes free willism. from a scripture right here,
right before us. And will there you could consider
also works, because remember works is something with our mind
or what we do with an action, so it's not of our works, nor
the will of man, again, but of God. Salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. So how did
we receive Christ? By faith. By faith. By a faith that God granted us. What mercy our King has. We didn't receive Christ by walking
to the front of an aisle like some folks say they've done. Or repeating a few words from
the mouth of someone who tells you to bow your head and repeat
this prayer. When I was in religion, I never
really understood that. But I heard guys pronounce people
saved just because they had repeated the prayer. Oh my. We didn't receive Christ by making
the decision for a make-believe Jesus who wants to save you but
can't unless you let him. That's just, that's a fake Jesus. That's not the God of the Bible.
God of the Bible saves whomever He wills, when He wills. And we certainly didn't, because
of our text in John 1, verse 13, we certainly didn't receive
Christ by an exercise of our so-called free will. Because
our will was bound and dead in trespasses and sins until the
Holy Spirit regenerated us. Our text says again, look at
how our text says, "...as ye have therefore received Christ
Jesus the Lord." We received Him by faith, beloved. By faith. By God-given faith. And we fled
to Christ. Now receiving Christ is believing
on Him. Trusting Him for the salvation
of our eternal souls. And faith is the eye of the soul. that sees the beauty, glory,
fullness, and the suitableness of Christ for sinners. Spurgeon says this on this verse,
there is great safety in going back to the first principles
to make sure of being in the right way. It is good to look
back at the entrance. Well begun is half done. The Colossians have commenced
well. Let them go on. Let them go on as they have begun. Let we who are here, who trust
Christ, let us go on as we begun by faith, trust, and rest in
Christ. And we pray, God, give us the
grace and mercy and strength to do this. Please. Please. Oh, what a great God we have,
beloved. What a great God. Now God's people, His elect,
receive Christ Jesus the Lord. By God the Holy Spirit drawn
us to Christ and regenerating us through the preaching of His
Word. Through the preaching of the Gospel. Again, you've heard
me state it multiple times. And the more I study, the more
it is so evident that we must preach Christ. That we must. We must. Salvation is only in
Him, and we must proclaim Him. We must preach Him. Turn, if
you would, to John 6. John 6, and then put your finger
in Romans 10. If our Heavenly Father has taught
us the truth of who Christ is, of what He has done, of where
He is, then our Lord, by the sovereign, irresistible, drawing
power of the Holy Spirit has brought us to Christ. Brought
us to Him. When we're regenerated by the
Holy Spirit of God, we acknowledge these precious truths. These
precious truths. But, the only way we can come
to Christ is by the sovereign, irresistible, drawing power of
God, the Holy Spirit. Look at John 6, 44 and 45. No
man That means no one. So that means
these folks that say they can exercise their free will, or
God's waiting for them to exercise their free will, they don't know
Scripture. Because it says, no man can come
to me, except, now here, if it was just there, we'd be in despair,
wouldn't we? We would be. But look at this.
Except the Father which has sent me, draw him. Greek, drag him. Drag him. And I will raise him
up at the last day. This is the Master's words. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. I'm looking at folks
who are taught of God. You're taught of God? I'm taught
of God. Taught of God. God, the Holy Spirit, has revealed
Christ to us. And it doesn't happen to everyone. But we know that no man can come
unless the Holy Spirit draws us. Look at this, every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, what? Cometh unto
me. All those who have been taught
of the Holy Spirit, to come to Christ. And this is by a sovereign, irresistible,
drawing power of the Holy Spirit of God. And then go over to Romans
10. God uses a preach in the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Regenerating His people by the
power of the Holy Spirit and granting them faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Romans 10, verse 13-15. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved." Praise God. Praise God. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? So, how can folks say who've
never believed in Christ, how can they say when someone dies,
oh, they're in heaven and they never believed? My dad never
believed the gospel. He died a Catholic. Never believed
the gospel. He's in hell. I have to bow my
knee to that. But I'm thankful God's had mercy
upon me. That he's had mercy upon me and
that he's saved me. But this says right here, And
how shall they preach in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? How can
one believe if they've never heard the Gospel? So think of all these churches
out there that are telling people how to do certain things, how
to live certain ways, and there's no Gospel. How are they to be saved? How shall they believe in Him
whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? God sends gospel preachers. Look at this. And how shall they
preach except they be sent? God's preachers are sent of God.
As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. The Holy Spirit of God guides
His elect into all gospel truths. He will bring His sheep unto
the hearing of the gospel before they're saved and regenerate them by His power
through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's incredible. Now, He may
be drawn them, before they hear the Gospel, He may be drawn them
to read the Scriptures, and drawn them to think about things of
God, and in here bring them under the sound of the Gospel. And
regenerate them. The ministry of the Holy Spirit
is to take the things of Christ and reveal them to those for
whom Christ died. And He does this through the
preaching of Christ and Him crucified. We send the message out and God
does whatever He's pleased with it. Who knows if someone will
tune in while we're live streaming or if someone will download the
message down the road and the Lord saves them. We may never
know this side of eternity, but God knows what He'll do with
the Word. It won't return unto Him void,
that's for sure. Not at all. It goes forth with
power. Aren't you glad if you're redeemed?
Aren't you glad that the Lord saved you and regenerated you
and didn't leave you where you were? I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful. Turn, if you would, to John 16. Look at this. And then put your finger in Matthew
11, if you could. John 16, verse 13-15. Speaking of the ministry of the
Holy Spirit, John 16, 13-15, Hallelujah, when
He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into
all truth. Now, we who are redeemed, we
who are saved, I want you to think just for a minute about
before the Lord saved you. Did we know anything about Christ?
I didn't have a clue. Now He's my Savior, my Redeemer,
my Lord. Why? Because the Spirit of Truth
has come. He will guide you into all truth,
for He shall not speak of Himself, There's whole movements out there
that are all about the Holy Spirit of God. But Scripture says, hear
not, speak of himself. But whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall
glorify me. The Holy Spirit will glorify
Christ. Christ. For he shall receive
of mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father
hath are mine. Therefore said I that he shall
take of mine and shall show it unto you. He reveals Christ. Remember like I said before we
were saying, we didn't have a clue, did we? He's been revealed to us by the
Holy Spirit of God. by the regenerating power of
the Holy Spirit of God. And no sinner, we know from John
6, no sinner will call or will come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we also know in other scriptures
where no sinner will call on the name of the Lord unless the
Holy Spirit regenerates them. Absolutely no one will believe
the truth about Jesus Christ unless they hear the gospel. Unless they're given hearing
ears and seeing eyes to see who Christ is. And how shall they
hear without a preacher? God will send his preachers where
his sheep are. He sends His preachers where
His sheep are, and God draws in His sheep to hear the Gospel.
And none will believe unless our Lord Jesus Christ is pleased
to reveal Himself. And thank God He is pleased to
reveal Himself to His people. To His people. Turn, if you would,
to Matthew chapter 11. I'll let you put your finger
in there. Look at this. Matthew 11. 25 and 27, and keep
this in mind, that none will believe unless our Lord Jesus
Christ is pleased to reveal Himself to them. Look at this, Matthew
11, 25 and 27. This goes against the grain of
religion. Who says it's all about what
you do? Look at this. At that time, verse 25, at that
time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth. Because thou hast hid these things
from the wise and the prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Revealed them. Remember, that
ties in with chapter 1 where the gospel is manifested to his
saints. That which has been hid for ages
and generations has been manifested to his people. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered
unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son. We cannot
know the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him." If you're saved, Christ has revealed himself to
you. You remember Joseph and his brethren? They didn't have
a clue who he was. They found out, though, didn't
they? What? When he revealed himself.
That's what Christ does for us. We're like those brethren. And
he reveals himself. And then we weep like they did,
don't we? We do. We do. We flee to Christ. We
flee to him. God is pleased to do this. God
is pleased to reveal Himself by the preaching of His Gospel
and by the power of the Holy Spirit, regenerating sinners. It pleases God to do this. Now,
true saving faith receives Jesus Christ as the God-man, our sovereign
Creator. sent from our great majestic
God to do his Father's will. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth
a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. which being interpreted
is God with us. God with us. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things are made by him, and without him was not
anything made that was made. He's God. He's God. And the Word was made flesh,
among us. God. God with us. And true faith receives this.
Receives these precious truths. Then said he, lo, I come in the
volume of the book. It is written of me. This book
is written of Christ. It's all about him. It's all
about the Lord Jesus Christ. And him alone. It's His story. History is His story. The unfolding
providence of God. You want to know what God's will
is? Or what God's will was for today?
Just read the newspaper tomorrow. That was God's will for today. Now, true saving faith receives
Jesus Christ as the Savior of His people. He's my Savior. Is He yours? I've received Him as my Savior. My Savior. God's elect do not
believe that Jesus Christ made salvation possible. through what
He has done? No. No, beloved. We believe that
He has saved His people from their sins. And that He has accomplished
salvation. This salvation is accomplished. If salvation wasn't accomplished... I heard a preacher this week,
D.J. Ward. I love listening to that
guy. And he was saying, if salvation's not accomplished, why do we sing
Jesus paid it all? Because it is, beloved. It's
accomplished. And the believer can say, because
it's accomplished, we can sing, it is well with my soul. It's
well. It's well with my soul. Because
it's accomplished. It's finished. My salvation is
complete in Christ. And how am I to walk now? By
faith, the same way I received Him. By faith. My, do you see
how religion, man, they got people just weighed down, yoked down. What freedom we have as believers. What wonderful freedom we have. We believe that Jesus Christ,
by himself, purged our sins. By himself. He did it all. We believe that Jesus Christ
obtained eternal redemption for us. He obtained it. And it's His to give to whomever
He pleases. And He gives it to His people,
to His elect, those the Father gave Him in eternity past. And
we believe that by the will of God, we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. This is
what a believer believes. We believe that He is Lord of
all, King of kings. And in other words, all those
who have been taught of God by the Holy Spirit, all those who
have true saving faith, believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord
and our Savior. There's no question, there's
no doubt that Jesus Christ is Lord. And we say, to the glory
of God the Father. Give Him all the glory. We really believe what scripture
says. I believe what the Bible says. There was a time I didn't. But
praise God, now I do. It's precious. These are precious
words to the believer's heart. Precious words. We believe that He really has
saved us from our sins. And the believer says, praise
His mighty name. Praise His mighty name. Let's
take note again in our text. It says, As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord. Christ Jesus the Lord. Believers receive Jesus the Lord,
our text proclaims. The Lord. Now think on this. The false
teachers in Coloss and in other places were teaching the Jesus
who was not Lord. Why? Because he wasn't all-sufficient. He wasn't all-sufficient. He
was a false Jesus. But the Jesus of these pages
is an all-sufficient Jesus. He's Lord. He's Lord. There's no question. He's Lord.
He's Lord. He's the all-sufficient. He's
the one who has saved us from our sins. The one who finished
the work. There's nothing needed to be added to it. Nothing at
all. So Paul again is telling the Colossians to walk in Him. Walk in Christ. Walk in Him. Who is all-sufficient. He's all-sufficient. All-sufficient. You received
Him by faith. So walk in it by faith. So walk in it by faith. These Christian bookstores go
out of business if they actually believe what the Bible says. All those books, they just pump
out on what to do and how you got to do it. But save in faith
receives Jesus Christ as our resurrected Lord and Savior.
We receive Him as our King, who is now seated at the right hand
of the Father. He's on the majesty on high,
ruling and reigning until the work is done here on earth. And
we believe that Jesus Christ, the resurrected God-man, is on
the sovereign throne right now. Right now. And we believe that
He has all power in heaven and in earth and over all things. And we believe that Jesus Christ
is working all things, all things after the counsel of His own
will, of His own. What He wants. What He wants. He's turning the hearts of kings. of politicians to whatever he
wills, to whatever he wills. And we believe that Jesus Christ
is upon his throne as our blessed surety, our blessed surety. Turn if you would to John chapter
17, John chapter 17. We believe that Jesus Christ
is the giver of all life. He is the one who gives eternal
life to those who were given to Him by God the Father. And
that turns religion upside down. Upside down. Who says it's all
about what you do? No. I'm sorry. No. It's all about what Christ has
done. Look at this, John 17, 1-3. And we know from John 6 earlier,
right? No man can come to the Father unless the Holy Spirit
draws him, right? Look at this. These words spake
Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the
hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son
may glorify Thee. Look at this. As Thou has given
Him, what? Power. Man has no power. See, you listen to religious
folks. And by the time you're done talking to them, you walk
away realizing that they think man is sovereign and that God
is not. That's not what this Word says.
That's not what this verse says. Look at this. "...As Thou hast
given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life
to as many as Thou hast given Him." And this is life eternal. "...That they might know Thee,
the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." So back
to our text again, with that in mind, "...as ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him." Oh, our Lord
Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. He's our blessed
surety. And through Him, through Him,
we've been saved from our sins. So let us examine ourselves and
ask the question, how did you receive Christ? How did you receive Christ? Well,
you received Him as the sum and substance of all saving faith,
right? That salvation is nowhere else
but Christ. Nowhere. Nowhere. You received
Him as the fulfillment of all promises. We all find their end
in Him. You received Him as the fountain
of all grace. He's the fountain of grace. a fountain open, Scripture declares. That's Christ. That's Christ. And you received Him as the whole
of your acceptance and righteousness with God. Outside of Christ, we're clothed
in our own righteousness. But the believers clothed in
the righteousness of Christ. And you received Him as the object
of faith and love. And then our scripture says it
ends with this, okay? And with that in mind, with that
in mind how we received Him, so walk ye in Him. So walk ye
in Him. Walk in Him by faith, just as
we received Him by faith. And note here the sweet command
God the Holy Spirit who teaches us. He teaches us here to walk
in Christ. To walk in Him. To walk in Him. Under the same needy circumstances
as we first received Christ. As we first received Him. Resting
and trusting in Him daily. It's one of the hardest things
for us to do. But that's why it's sinful. And
it's so simple, isn't it, when you read it? But it's so hard. But this is what scripture says,
and this is why I say, we pray that God would give us the grace,
right? Just to rest. Because trouble comes up, and
sometimes we get worked up. As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. I need to memorize
this verse. Live day by day in this faith.
Live day by day in this trust. Live day by day in this relationship. We don't begin in Christ and
get perfected. or comforted or accepted in the
flesh. Know our total rest and our total
trust and our total hope is in Christ Jesus, the Lord, in Him
alone. It's nowhere else. May God give
us grace. May God give us grace to walk
day by day by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give us
grace. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Gracious Heavenly Father, we come before Thy throne. Oh, we
pray You give us grace and strength to walk as we received You, Lord
Jesus, just by faith. Just by faith. Oh, that our faith
would increase that you'd strengthen us by your word and by the preaching
of it and by our reading it and all that we might be comforted
in. That you might increase and we might decrease. We give you
all the glory and honor and praise. In Jesus' name, amen.