We'll start with John chapter
15, kind of start there. John chapter 15. We've been looking at the issue
of the preservation or the perseverance of the Lord's people or Christ's
perseverance of the saints. Preserved in Christ, whatever,
I think the title I've been putting on them all, Preserved in Christ
Jesus. We've been looking at this topic
of perseverance or preservation, going back to the very beginning.
I believe that that's one and the same thing. The perseverance
of the saints is the preservation of the saints by God. The reason
that anybody perseveres to the end is because they are being
preserved by God. Perseverance and preservation
can't be separated. The child of grace can no more
persevere in the faith in this body that's been given to him,
this Adamic man that we are still part of, it cannot persevere. It will not persevere. It goes
away often. But the Spirit of God that is
in us, Christ by that Spirit continually keeps us. And that's
kind of what we've been looking at. And we started off with to the point that when God starts
something, he doesn't quit. He finishes what he starts. He
that began a good work in you, he's gonna carry that out. He's
gonna continue that out. And so we looked at several passages
of scriptures about that, and again, I'm not gonna harbor much
on these. I just want to, by way of remembrance,
Go back and read those first two that we looked at, because
I think they kind of really show forth all of the ones that we
looked at after that. But in Psalm 138 and verse 8
again, just to remind you, it says, The Lord will perfect that
which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever.
Forsake not the work of thine own hands. And then in Ecclesiastes,
We find in chapter 3 and verse 14, again we see, I know that
whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put
to it, anything added to it, nor anything taken away from
it, find it lacking in any way. And God doeth it that men should
fear before him. And so whenever we're looking
at God's work of salvation, we have found that salvation isn't
just the election of god before the foundation of the world it
isn't just the uh... the work of redemption by christ
in time here and it's not just the work of us coming to faith
and believing on christ jesus all of that is part of the salvation
of jehovah the salvation of jehovah is the eternal to eternal aspects
of everything that god has purpose, willed, and declared to do. So
it starts in eternity, it continues on through eternity, it makes
this dippy swag down into time, if you allow me that allusion,
it makes this little dippy swag down into time to manifest the
will of God, to manifest the declaration that God has made,
it manifests the purpose of God in glorifying Christ Jesus through
the deliverance, through the salvation of His people. And that begins, before the foundation
of the world, in choosing those people, and at the very end of
all things, redeeming and glorifying those people, bringing those
people through this time state, bringing those people through
this wilderness and tribulation, and bringing them to the very
end where we are glorified and conformed to the image of Christ
at the resurrection. So we are from eternity to eternity
those children that were always preserved in Christ Jesus and
the fact that he is our head, we are his seed, we have been
in him, that he has preserved them from before they were ever
brought forth, before they were ever given in Christ, given to
Christ. Scripture said, Thine they were,
and Thou gavest them me. They were gods. They were hid
with Christ in God. And they were gods before the
foundation of the world. And then they were manifested
in time, placed in these vessels of clay, scattered throughout
all the world, and then in the end are brought all the way back
to God. So they came from God, and they
will come back to God, be brought back to God. And in this time
period, everything that God has been doing, everything that God
has purposed for the foundation of the world, Christ has been
bringing that forth and He has been bringing that to fruition
and doing everything that has to do with that salvation because
He is the anointed Messiah. He is the one who has been chosen
of God to carry out this work He has come and done that for
His people. That includes the positional aspects and the practical,
or the legal aspects and the experiential aspects of salvation.
Christ is doing that work, and that's why whenever we look at
that verse right there in Ecclesiastes, that it says that nothing can
be taken from it, nothing to do, because God's doing it. God's
doing the work. You know, if it's left to us
to do it, The work's not gonna get done. I mean, there's times,
and I'll use myself for an example, there's times at work, I'm working
along, and I'm clicking along pretty good. I may have, you
know, five, six, seven service calls in a day, and, you know,
I'm clicking along, doing my service work, I'm looking at
the time, and the time's quickly getting to the end of the day,
end of the day, end of the day, and I still got more to do, more
to do, and everything, and then finally I'm like, You know, that
one right there could actually probably wait till tomorrow.
I mean, I could do it today, get it done, but I could probably
go back and do it tomorrow. You know what? I'm just going to
put that one on hold, and I'm not going to do that one, and I'm
going to come back later and do it later. You know, I can fail in doing
the work. I can get tired of doing the
work. Matter of fact, I can just say,
you know what? I'm not doing that. Forget that. They're on their own. They broke
that. They're not going to buy anything
from us. They're not going to do anything for us. I'm going to go out there
and I'm going to waste my time going out there. I'm not even
going to go. But you know, God doesn't do that. What He has
started, He will finish. And depending on how, on His
children, His elective God, the elective God, that work began
before the foundation of the world, before we ever fell in
idol, that work began. And he began that work of bringing
a people out of Christ and presenting that people to himself as a chaste
bride, presenting them, people, as a people that are righteous
and holy and without blame, as Ephesians 1 says, to present
to himself a people. And that people is that way,
not because of anything they've done, but only because of the
work of Christ. from eternity to eternity. And
so Christ is the one who will be in view there. Christ is the
one who is to be honored. And Christ is the preservation
of His saints. That's why we call it the preserved
in Christ Jesus. We are preserved in Him. Why?
Because all of our salvation is on His shoulders. You know,
you remember the You remember back in, I think it was in Genesis,
where Benjamin made the promise. He said, you know, I'm going
to go and, you know, let his blood be on me. I'm going to
go and I'm going to return with it. I'm going to go with the
child. I'm going to come back with the child. If I don't come back
with the child, then let the blame be upon me. He made the
covenant that I'm going to take the children and take them with
me down to Egypt. And yet, I will return with them,
and if I don't, it's going to be my fault. Well, that's a beautiful
picture of Christ Jesus and the covenant of grace. Thou gavest
them to Me, and I have given them the Word. I have showed
them everything that you have said. I have revealed the Father
to them. I have revealed all of who God
is to them, and they have believed it, And now my work is just about
done here and I'm going to come back to you, return to me the
glory that I had before the world began. And then He would send
His Spirit as the Comforter to continue to be their comfort,
to be their strength, to be their guide. Christ returning back
to His people in the Spirit to lead them and guide them and
direct them until He comes again. That is Christ's work all the
way around, all and every bit of that. And so, what God begins,
He is going to finish, because He has given the work to Christ,
who has coveted it, that He will do the work, and He will come
back with those that God had given Him to take. And He is
going to do the work, and He said, all that the Father had
given Me to do, I have not lost any. And so that's kind of what
we looked at last week, is that What God starts, He finishes,
and then there will not be any one lost because the faithful
servant will be faithful to do everything that God has told
him to do. And he said, you know, I've done everything that the
Father has given me to do, told me to do. Everything I've heard
my Father say, I've done. I've completed, I've fulfilled,
I've finished everything that God has called me to do. So Christ has been given, and
we looked last week, several verses. John 6 and verse 39 was
one of the verses we looked at where Jesus said that all that
the Father had given me, or all that the Father's will is, He
sent me and all that the Father has sent me to do, I've done,
and that I should lose nothing John 10, my sheep hear my voice,
they follow me. Romans 8, we know that all things
work together for the good of them who are the called. That God is working this chain
of salvation and it will be completed. Not one link is going to be left
out of it. We also looked in Romans 8 about
who shall separate us from the love of God. See, we can't be
lost because there's nothing that can come and indict us before
the throne of God. See, the throne of God and the
judgment of Christ on our behalf has satisfied God. So therefore,
there is nothing in the life of the believer, of the life
of the child of grace, that can ever be brought up as an indictment
against them. Therefore, their preservation
is guaranteed because their advocate will always stand in their place
and say, that was paid in full. That was paid in full. They don't
owe nothing because it was paid in full. And if the judge were
to say, well, show me proof, the proof is in the blood. The
shed blood of Jesus Christ has been shed on their behalf. And
without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.
And if there is shedding of blood, then there has been remission
of sin. Therefore, the sins have been remitted. The sins have
been removed. The sins have been forgiven,
have been covered, have been gone. There is no sins in the
life of the child of grace. That's why the Bible says that
those who are born of God, whenever they come before God, the only
thing that's going to be said is, well done, my good and faithful
servant, because Christ stands as our righteousness. So what
God has begun, He will finish, and the way He finishes that
is to guarantee it through Christ being the one who is the captain
of their salvation, being the one who is doing everything about
their salvation, who has promised that He's not going to lose any. And we hear all the time these
preachers on TV, and we've been in their churches, we read their
stuff, we've seen it on heard it on the radio and all this
stuff about all these people who are dying and going to hell
because nobody can ever get to them with the gospel. That's
why the great missionary movements have sprung up is to go reach
those who have not had the gospel preached to them and everything.
Listen, as I mentioned last week, there is one whose feet is beautiful,
who carries the Gospel, who carries that everlasting Gospel. And
listen, he's not forwarded in who he goes to. Listen, you can't
stop him. I might be stopped going over
to some country and sharing the Gospel with somebody, but the
teacher or the true preacher of the Gospel, the Spirit of
God, is not restrained. There is no restraint. And that
preaching of that Gospel can be into the heart of anyone of
God's elect. So it doesn't matter how far
into the deepest, darkest hearts of the jungle or wherever that
that someone might be, that is not a deterrent, that is not
an obstacle for the grace of God to reach into the heart of
that person and give them faith and to begin to teach them of
Christ. and you say, well, you mean to
tell me that they can be taught something without having this
in their hand and a preacher there to preach this that's in
their hand to them and everything like that? I think the Holy Spirit
of God can begin to administer faith into the heart of the elect
of God and give them to think and to trust and to know things
about truth. And whenever they do read these
things right here, it begins to confirm in their heart what
is already being taught by the Holy Spirit of God. And I say
that not just out of trying to uphold some theological system.
I say that from actual experience that I've experienced in myself,
testimony that I've heard from countless brothers and sisters
in Christ. who have testified of the fact
that, you know what, I have never read that before, but there was
something in my mind that was giving me that, and whenever
I heard that preached, or I heard that, or I read that somewhere,
or opened up a book and heard some guy talking about that,
I was like, there it is. That's what I was talking about.
That's what I believe. And I don't know how many people
have heard that, where the word of God, and why should we be
surprised about that? And I'm getting off a little
bit on a tangent, but why should we be surprised about that whenever
the very New Covenant Scriptures of the Old Testament tell us
that God is going to put His law in our hearts? And that Christ
said He was going to send the Spirit to lead us into all truth. Who's going to teach us where
we will no more need anybody to tell us to know God. You have
no need that any man should teach you. Why? Because you have the
anointing that is from above. The Holy Spirit of God has been
given to you, and He will be your teacher. So why would we
be surprised that the Spirit can't teach us and begin to put
the truth of things, the testimony. Remember, it's the testimony
of Christ, and they are putting that testimony into our hearts,
and this right here is just confirming that. What I'm doing here today,
if it be of truth, is just testifying and confirming what God has been
putting into our hearts and putting into our minds. Because this
right here can't be learned by human convention. This can't
be learned by human wisdom. I can study this day after day
after day after day after day and never get its meaning until
it's revealed unto me. You say, well, it has to be in
there first before it can be revealed to you. Really? It has to be revealed
before you can take ownership of it. Like I've said before,
I can go out there with my daughter's metal detector and scan that
yard and there may be a gold coin out there somewhere in that
yard. I don't possess it. I don't own it. Don't even know
it exists, but it's there. And it's not until it's revealed
that it becomes my possession. I don't know the truth of this
until it's revealed. It's there. It's meant for me, but I don't know it until it's
revealed, until it's opened up. Then the possession becomes mine
whenever the Holy Spirit of God reveals that to me. I don't even know how we got down
that path, but we see that the Holy Spirit of God has been given
to us. Christ has been given to us.
The Father has done all these things. The whole Godhead in
Christ Jesus, is working our salvation to us and none is going
to be lost. And Christ has made the promise
that He would bring everyone back to God and give them the
understanding. That's why I say it was the missionary
getting off on the missionary thing. That's what got me down
that path. God can give that testimony to
anybody He wants to give it to. Therefore, it will not fail.
His salvation will not fail. The experiential aspect. And
I've mentioned that here before to a lot of you guys. I know
probably some people are probably tired of hearing it. The conditionalists
who say that we have an eternal salvation and that's strictly
all what Christ did for us and that can't be changed. But the
conditional time salvation, we can miss out on that because
we don't hear the gospel. We don't believe the gospel.
We don't partake of the means or whatever like that. We can
get into heaven and never have heard of Jesus, but in this time-conditioned
salvation, we lose out on that. Listen, there is no more an ability
for us to lose out on that than we can on the eternal because
it's all one salvation. The experiential part of salvation
is just as much the onus of Christ to deliver to His people as it
was the legal portion to deliver justification, sanctification,
redemption, adoption, all those legal aspects of salvation. It was on Christ to deliver those
and secure those for His people. But brethren, it's just as much
on the backs of Jesus Christ to deliver the spiritual part
of it. Our coming to know that, the
new birth, the repentance, the faith, the growth and grace and
knowledge, the conforming to his image, the actual experience
of this body dying and then being raised to new life in the resurrection
with a new body that, like Larry was talking about, scatter my
ashes wherever you want to scatter my ashes. I could care less about
it. Because one of these days, that body, no matter what condition
it's in, is going to be changed into a new body. So do with me
what you ever want. You want to put an arm over there
and a leg over here and an eye over there and a hindquarters
over here? It doesn't matter. If you want
to ground me up to dust, if you want to plaster me up and dip
me in something that keeps me as a statue over in the corner
so you can look at me every day and wish me well-do, it doesn't
matter. This body is going to be resurrected
to new. That also is on the back of Jesus
Christ. Every minute detail, every iota
of salvation from beginning to end is on Christ Jesus. And so I have all the confidence
in the world that it's going to come to everyone for whom
it's intended. Not one will be lost. That's
part of the preservation and the perseverance of the saints.
The preservation of those elect in Christ Jesus isn't preserved. They're not preserved over there
in the deepest, darkest heart of Africa where no one has ever
gone and preached the gospel. They're not preserved because
some gospel preacher got over there and preached that gospel
to them and got them to where they were in a savable state.
That's not what preserved them. Their preservation was in Christ
Jesus and the work of Him and His Spirit. That's the preservation. Well, today I thought we would
kind of round this out, unless the Lord gives me anything else
to talk about on this subject. Next week, I wanted us to look
at, because whenever you start talking about perseverance of
the saints, the question always comes up about, oh, you're talking
about sanctification. We have to be sanctified now.
justified, now we have to be sanctified and the perseverance
of the saints is their sanctification or their progressive becoming
more and more holy. Well, brethren, listen, the sanctification
or the perseverance, that is also
Christ's work. Now, I will say this, as I look
through Scripture, And I could be wrong about this and I'll
be open for correction on it as well. But as I look, the overarching
and overwhelming use of the word sanctification means to be set
apart or to be separated unto use or service for God. That's the overarching use of
the word sanctification throughout the scriptures. Now that's not
the only use of that word in scriptures. There are some places
in scriptures and the verses are fewer and far between than
the other parts of the other one. But there is also a connotation
of that word that means to purify or to cleanse. Okay. And I don't I don't negate, I
don't deny that at all. We still have to keep in mind
the things. So that means that there is a
positional part of sanctification and there is a practical. Just
like whenever we're talking about salvation as a whole, there's
a positional part of salvation, that's the legal aspect, and
then there's a practical part of salvation, that's the experiential
part. Well, this experiential part of Christ as it is in anything
else. But let's look at the positional
part of sanctification first. Turn with me if you would to
John chapter 15. Let's look at a few verses that speak of these
things. John chapter 15. I'm going to
start reading, or I'm going to read verse 16. Jesus here says, Ye have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever ye ask of the Father in my name, he may give
it to you." So here we see that Christ has chosen or sanctified
a group of men for His purpose. He has set them apart. He has
set them apart. And specifically, when you look
here, He has set the apostles apart. is chosen twelve apostles
and those twelve apostles have been chosen by Christ to be his
closest confidants in whom he would give the body of his doctrine
to and as we see in scripture the foundation of the church
was laid by the apostles they are the foundation they were
the first to be laid in the church, the apostles. We see also in
the New Testament that whenever the New Testament Christians
or first century Christians were meeting together, they were continuing
in the apostles' doctrine. Now, it wasn't that the apostles
came up with the doctrine, but they were the ones who was given
to be entrusted with the delivery and the teaching and the passing
on of the gospel, especially in this intermittent state between
the old covenant and the new covenant. The church coming out
and beginning to be the place where Christ was doing His work
and especially as it began to spread into all the world and
the Gentiles began to be included into everything, that the apostles
was there as the authority and the foundation so that the gospel,
whenever they heard that, they were with Jesus. They heard what
Jesus said. They know what Jesus did. Jesus
breathed upon them and gave them understanding and they received
that from Christ and they received special gifts to be able to confirm
the message that they were bringing is the message of God. And so
the apostles was given there. Well, here Jesus has said, I
have chosen you. I have separated you. I have been, I'm the one who
does that. See, they didn't sign up for
that. As a matter of fact, if you look through the Gospels
and look at every one of the accounts of all of those disciples and
the apostles, every one of them was chosen by Jesus. Jesus was
going down like He was going down the boardwalk. And He was
like, Hey you, come follow Me. Hey you, come follow Me. And
it was almost as if He was just doing it from random. I mean,
He got a fisherman over here. He got a tax collector over here. He got a, you know, whatever
the guys were. Here's a guy that's a a tent
maker, and here's the guy that, it's almost just like, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Oh, here's a couple of brothers,
let me grab those guys. Oh, here's some cousins, let
me grab those guys. You know, no, he was specific in what he
was doing. It seems random to us, maybe. But the point is,
is when Jesus went, what happened? Whatever, he went there and he
seen those men fishing, and he said, hey, come follow me, I'll
make you fishers of men. What did they do? He says, they
left their nets immediately and followed after him. Whenever he went and called Matthew
the tax collector, what did he do? He locked up the booth and
went and took after, and went after Christ. See, Christ called
them, separated them, sanctified them for His purpose. Now we can say that while this
may be in direct context, it's talking about the apostles, and
directly in context, it's talking about the administration of the
gospel to them, in laying them as the foundation of the church
for that whenever he ascended back into the heavens, that the
church would be found, grounded, him being the chief cornerstone
and them being the foundation laid upon the apostles, they
would be there to bring this church in this transitionary
period as it begins to spread out through all the world. But
brethren, I can tell you right now, we have scripture that tells
us that God has chosen all of his elect. before the foundation
of the world and has separated them for his purposes. Look if you would at 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 30, or
excuse me, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30. As a matter of fact, I'm going to back up just a little
bit. Verse 19. It says, For it is written, I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is this Peter of this world?
Hath not God made foolish? The wisdom of this world? For
after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not
God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Now that save is to
save them from error, to save them from wrong understanding. People aren't saved in a legal
sense from preaching. Their salvation was in the finished
work of Jesus Christ by His blood. So the salvation that's talked
about here is a practical salvation of saving them from wrong understanding. For the Jews require a sign and
the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness.
But unto them which are called, okay, here we go, there's the
called here, is in view. But to them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. So Christ has made the power
of God and the wisdom of God to them, for them, and in them. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger than man.
For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. And aren't
you glad? We all probably hear him saying,
Amen. I'm glad that's how he does it. lest we would not be,
let me make it personal, lest I would not be included. But
God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty. and base things of the world
and things which are despised have God chosen yea and things
which are not to bring to naught things that are. That's exactly
why Jesus chose fishermen and tax collectors and the scourges
of the world to do his work, to be his ministers. Because at that time,
who were the ministers, quote unquote ministers? It was those
who had been educated, who had some sort of a pedigree. Those
who had been given position and title, respect. Those who had the long flowing
robes and their phylacteries and all the regal and royal to-do
among the people. And they lorded it over the people.
They took advantage of it. Whenever they came into the synagogues,
they were given the highest places of honor. But what did Christ do? He turned
the whole apple cart, right? He came in, and not only Himself
came as a servant, but He started calling and choosing men of no
reputation. I mean, every one of those disciples
and every one of those apostles were of no reputation. And you say, well, what about
Paul? Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees. No, I think Paul was
a special one that he chose to show that even you who are high
and mighty and think you have something, I can debase and bring
down. I have control over the kings.
I have control over the religious establishments. I have control
over the common man. I have control over everything.
Not only that, but he also shows in the Apostle Paul that I give
grace, not just to the lowly here that are of no reputation,
but I even give grace and extend grace to all those who you thought
could never be brought in. This man was a killer of the
way. He brought him down to be a servant of God. See, He was
chosen, and when God chooses us, nothing can be added to it
and nothing can be taken away from it. And He will not lose
one, even though that one may be the Pharisee of Pharisees,
that one bowed the knee to Christ and proclaimed that He was Lord.
What would you have me to do, Lord? Who art thou, Lord? Why are you
kicking against the priest? He immediately knew. He immediately,
he might have been blinded, but he knew. He knew who he was talking
to. Christ had separated him. And
it says here, the base things of the world, those which are
despised have God chosen, yea, the things which are not, to
bring to naught things that are. And the purpose that no flesh
should glory in his presence, but of him, God, are ye these
people that God has chosen, the base things of the world, but of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Now I said all that to say this,
that God has chosen from the foundation of the world to sanctify
us in Christ Jesus, set us apart in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 1.
We were chosen in Christ Jesus. That's the sanctifying. That's
the sanctification that we experience before we was ever brought into
existence in our own personal life experience. God sanctified
us in Christ Jesus. So sanctification first and foremost
is the setting apart of a people before the foundation of the
world of names written down or names not written down. There
is a separation. That separation is the separation
of the sheep and the goats. The sheep have been given to
Christ and they will be Christ forever. Not one will be lost. Those who are not and their names
not written in the life will continue from everlasting not
being known to everlasting not being known. They are not going
to transfer from one to the other. God has chosen a people and sanctified
them and set them apart, separated them unto His use. Now they're
no different than these guys. But He has set them apart to
show forth something in them and through them and to them
that He has not chosen to show these people in an experiential way. Now they
will see the glory of God. They will see the salvation of
Jehovah. And they will see how they have
rejected and despised and hated and kicked against and done all
things against this holy God and His holy purpose and His
holy work. And they will see that. But yet,
brethren, listen. These people over here are no
different. They have just been sanctified and set apart before
the boys had done anything good or bad. that the purpose of God
according to election might stand. One was separated from the other. Whenever they came out of the
womb, they came out as one. One boy holding the other one's
foot as if it was one man being born. But yet when they came
out, they were separated into two men, two nations, two manner
of people. That's exactly who we are. We
are two manner of people. The outward man, the fleshly
man, is that of Edom. The inward man is that of Jacob. One is the child of blessing.
One is the child of cursing. One is the seed of Adam. One
is the seed of the second Adam. And because we've been sanctified
before the foundation of the world, or separated, sanctified
in Christ Jesus, that sanctification cannot be lost. It cannot be
done. And what God has began, He's going to finish off in the
end. He says here why? That according
as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. If
sanctification was something that we had to do as a conditional
response of the person to the means of grace that God has given,
then we have room to glory. Now, I know the Reformers will
say, well, no, we don't have room to glory because it's God
who is empowering us. Well, see, that's where you're
missing the point. It is not the onus of us to make sure that
we're carrying that out. Now, are the admonitions there?
Absolutely. But behind every admonition is
the understanding of the fullness of Scripture that the work is
not the work of this flesh. It's the work of God that is
doing and being in us. And so, he that glorieth, glorieth
in the Lord. When brethren begin to believe
this, that even the work in us is the work of God, their vocabulary
begins to change. It's not about what I did, what
all I do. Listen, I have friends and people
on Facebook all the time. You listen to them And they're
all the time talking about their ministry, what they've done,
what they're doing, how much they've done, how many people
they've fed, how many people they've clothed, how many people
they've reached. The passage, again, not to get
off on a tangent, the passage that comes to mind over, is it
in Matthew where Jesus said, be careful whenever you give
your alms that you don't give your alms out in public, in front
of everybody, trumpeting, I'm paraphrasing, not to trumpet
in front of everybody, you're giving of alms. Well, the giving
of alms there doesn't necessarily mean your money. It means whatever
you do that you're doing in the service of the Lord or giving
to the Lord, don't trumpet that. There are people that are going
out and standing on the street corners trumpeting how much they're doing
for Christ, what all they're doing for Christ, how much of
the Kingdom they're bringing in because of their work and
all like that. trumpeting your arms. And that's
you glorifying or glorying in what you are doing. What I find
amongst the true people of God is a humbled spirit and a right
mind that gives glory to God in all things. They glorify God
in what? If there's anything that I do,
it's because of Him. If there's anything that I do
that's wrong, it's because of me. That's the attitude that
I see among the true people of God. They have been humbled by
the fact that anything that comes from them that is of a righteous
nature is because of Christ. And he says here that the reason
that Christ has been made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption is so that He that glorieth will
glory in the Lord. While you're there in Corinthians,
look at chapter 6. It says, speaking of all the unrighteous that will not inherit
the kingdom of God. He said, if such were some of
you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, are sanctified,
notice that, he says are sanctified, not will be sanctified, but are
sanctified, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. Now, brethren, are we not the
same people that is up in verse 9? The fornicators, the idolaters,
the adulterers, the effeminate, the abusers of themselves of
mankind, thieves, covetousness, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. We all had our part in that.
We all still in the flesh have our part in that. That hasn't
gone away. But what does He say our status is? What's our position
in Christ Jesus? We've been washed. We've been sanctified. We've
been justified. See, while it still remains that
we have the characteristics of the first Adam, the second Adam, His seed that
lies within us doesn't have those characteristics. And this outer
man, because of the blood of Jesus Christ, has been washed,
has been sanctified, and has been justified. Therefore, all
the sins that these other people are doing, that we also do, are
not counted against us, but it is as if we are in front of God,
sanctified and justified. Now that is the tremendous nature
of grace. The tremendous nature of the
Gospel is that although we are, He counts us as though we are
not. He looks at those things that
are not as if they are. Isn't that amazing? I know that's
simple Barney Five language, but Sometimes that's how I have
to hear it. God looks at me as if I am Christ,
and He looked at Christ as if He was me. And because of that, we are sanctified. We are justified. That's our
position in Christ Jesus. In Hebrews 10.10, we find this. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
10 it says, well let me back up to verse
7. Jesus speaking here, it says,
Then said I, lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written
of me to do thy will, O God. So all the book, the whole volume
of the book, The whole scroll, if you would, is written of Christ. It's a
book of Christ. That's why I say whenever we
look, whether it's in the Word of God or if you take the declaration
of God that's inscribed on that eternal scroll, if you look at
that and see it's all about Christ and it is all fulfilled by Christ. Every bit of the purpose of God,
every bit of the declaration that God has made and the will
of God is about Christ and it's fulfilled by Christ. Therefore,
we cannot ever be lost. We can't ever lose our perseverance. Because Christ has been given
the book. He has been given the work. And
He is completing the work. Therefore, we have been sanctified,
set apart for His use, and preserved in Christ Jesus. Because He is
doing that work. And it says here, I have come
in the volume of the book to do thy will. And Jesus said in
John, we read it last week, that the will of him that sent me
is that I should lose nothing. So the whole volume of the book,
the whole volume of that declaration of God is that Christ lose nothing. And how does he lose nothing?
Because God has elected him. God has given him. Christ has
secured them, Christ keeps them, and Christ brings them back to
the Father. What was given to Him in eternity
past will be brought back to Him in eternity future. He says, Above, when He said,
Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin
thou wouldst not, neither hast pleasure therein, which are offered
by the law, then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God,
He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second.
So here we see, in our preservation, Christ has taken away the law
and everything that was against it. The whole covenant, the old
covenant has been taken away. Why? Because all the old covenant
was, was a covenant that manifested the wicked, evil nature of who
we are and our inability to keep God's law. The whole covenant,
Old Covenant, was there for the purpose of showing the inadequacy
of Adam. And he said, I took away the
first that the second might be established. Not that it happened
at that exact time because it's an everlasting covenant. It's
an everlasting, eternal covenant. He says, by the witch will, by
that same will, we are sanctified. Past tense, right? We are sanctified. By the same will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
So brethren, our sanctification, not only is it an eternal sanctification,
but by blood, Jesus secured the very fact of our sanctification.
We are sanctified in Him by His blood. The reason that God could
take a people who became sinners in Adam and could set them apart
for holy use is that vessel must first be washed. That vessel
first must be consecrated unto God. And that's what sanctification
was. The blood of Christ sanctified this outer vessel. So there we
have the two natures of sanctification. The setting apart or separation
for His use But also this treasure that is in this earthen vessel
that is full of sin, that vessel to hold that treasure must be
cleansed. It must be sanctified or purified. And how is it purified? How was
this Adamic flesh purified? It was purified through the blood
of Jesus Christ. We were washed. We were sanctified. We were justified. And here He
says that He has come in the volume of the book to do the
will of God and that the sacrifice and the burnt offerings, they
don't do anything for this. The law didn't do anything for
this. So the Old Covenant was there to show us that. And then
Him coming, the New Covenant then, is being manifested, which
already was there, It was already ours, we were already part of
it, but it was being manifested at this time. And it was manifesting
the fact that the salvation isn't in that, it's in this blood. By the witch will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all. Quickly, I'm going to try to
read through some of these other ones. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Some of you want to say, well,
I agree, Preacher, that there's a positional aspect to sanctification,
but there sure is a whole lot of things about us having to
do and having to keep up conditions and things like that. Well, let's
look at some of these places that are practical aspects of
sanctification that people put forth as some progression or
some activity that we have to do. In 1 Corinthians 15, look
with me, verse 10 says, Paul writes, But by the grace of God
I am what I am. And His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. You hear the vocabulary, like
I said a while ago, the true children of God, how does their
vocabulary change? You remember Paul, whenever he
was talking about himself as a Pharisee, and whenever I believe
he was speaking about all the things that he was as a Pharisee,
he was speaking not as a prideful person boasting about his accomplishments,
but he was speaking in like the third person, so to speak, and
that may not be the right terminology. either, but he was basically
saying, Hey, whenever I was before Christ came, this is who I was. This is what
I thought I was. I was a Pharisee Pharisees. I
was born on this certain day. I was circumcised on this day
and I did this. I was sitting under the feet
of Gamaliel. I was doing all these things. Nobody kept the
law like I did. Paul was saying all that stuff.
But now listen to Paul. He said, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. I generalize that or summarize
that in another way of what will go whenever I say it. If I do
anything that is of truth or if I do anything that is of righteousness,
it's Christ that does it. If I do anything that is of sin,
that's definitely me. That's basically what Paul is
saying here. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. And His grace, which was bestowed
upon me, was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all. Well, what was it, Paul? Because
you knew more of the Scripture? You studied longer than they
did? Therefore, you were able to get out there and do more?
Accomplish more? Or your faith was a lot more
stronger than them? You had more faith, Paul, so
because you had more faith, you got out there and did it more
for Jesus because of them? Why is it that you labored more
abundantly than all the other ones did? I believe that he's
talking about the other apostles here. And I don't doubt it. I mean, really, we don't see
quite the work the other apostles were doing that Paul was doing. I mean, Paul was a go-getter.
I mean, he'd think this man was zealous for going and killing
all the Christians, and he was going everywhere to do so. Now, just
on the other side of the coin, now Paul is zealous for the Lord,
and he's getting out there and going all over the place, even
clear to Rome, where eventually was his demise, for the sake
of the gospel. He was a go-getter. But what
does Paul say? Who does he give glory to? Why
is he a go-getter? By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Because if it wasn't for the grace of God, I wouldn't
be doing this. If it was for the grace of God, I wouldn't
be going here. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for the grace
of God, I still would be persecuting these people that I now am seeking
to share the Gospel with. Then he says, yet not I, but
the grace of God which was in me. What was it that made Paul
labor more abundantly than all of them is the grace of God.
So can we say that our sanctification, as far as the practical working, Is a conditional thing on our
part? No, this right here said it was by the grace of God, by
the grace of God. Look at Galatians chapter three.
This right here, if you remember, is a couple years or three years,
I can't remember now how long it's been, that we went through
Galatians. But this right here, what an
indictment upon the modern church today. We see it started way
back in the first century. Chapter 3, look with me, starting
in verse 1, Paul talking to the Galatians who had been seduced
by the Judaizers who were coming in saying it's law and grace.
It's law and grace. Yeah, Jesus has done all that
he's done, but you still have to keep the law of Moses. You
still have to keep that law. Paul says, O foolish Galatians,
who have bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth
before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth,
Christ among you. That you should not obey the truth? Wait a minute,
wait a minute, Paul. Don't you got that wrong? These were the ones who the Judaizers
had come in and told them that they were to keep the Law of
Moses, and therefore they were trying to fulfill the Law of
Moses by keeping the Law. They were the ones who were obeying
the truth. And you're coming in saying that they should not
obey the truth? These guys were the ones who
were coming in and telling them that they should obey the truth. And
now you're coming in and telling them because they're doing that,
that they're not obeying the truth. Well, what is it, Paul?
Exactly what I said. To obey the truth is to trust
in Christ. Not in the law. To trust in Christ
is to obey the truth. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
and what all He's done on your behalf is trusting and walking
in the truth, walking in obedience. It's not the law-keeping. Verse 2. This only would I learn
of you. Received ye the Spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish,
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Isn't that what progressive sanctification
is all about? Now, am I wrong, brother, in
that? I'm not misrepresenting their
position, right? I've read a ton of positions
and articles about progressive sanctification, and their position
is that we progressively can become more holy. And I'll tell
you what, a lot of people may not be able to see them on camera
or anything like that, but we're over here with Brother Phillips
and his wife and family. They came out of the holiness
movement. I've heard their stories. I mean, that is what is being
preached in a lot of pulpits today, is that we can progressively
become more and more holy. Even some, as I've heard, have
even claimed that they have been sanctified fully. They claim
that they're sanctified. There's no more room for growth.
Paul here is saying, received ye the works of the law or by
the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish, having begun in the
Spirit? Are ye now made perfect? by the
flesh. He's being sarcastic there. Are
you saying that your salvation began in the Spirit, but now
there's something physical that you have to do? This is a spiritual
kingdom, brethren, and the spiritual works are done in the spiritual
realm by the Spirit of God for the spiritual purposes of God. Have ye suffered so many things
in vain if it be yet in vain? He therefore that ministereth
to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he
it by the works of the law, or by the carrying of faith? Even
as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for
righteousness." What was it that Abraham did? He believed. He
believed what? He believed what God said about
his righteousness. Abraham didn't have any righteousness
of his own. And listen, I hate to break it
to you, especially if you're from the Reformed belief, Abraham's
faith was not counted to him as righteousness in the aspects
of Abraham's actual believing the record of what was being
told to him. His believing did not make him
righteous before God. It declared his righteousness
before God. It declared that he had been declared righteous
before God. It declared that he was a child
of grace who had been justified before God Almighty by the work
of Jesus Christ. But that belief in what God said
about Christ is not the grounds by which God justified Abraham. the it was. Abraham believed
God and it, if you go back to Genesis 15, you will find the
it in context is the seed. Abraham believed God about what
God told him about the seed. And the seed is not seeds plural,
but seeds singular being Christ. Abraham believed what God said
about his seed being his righteousness. Abraham believed that and counted
the seed as his righteousness, not his believing, not his obedience,
not his law-keeping, Not his adherence to the works that God
had given him to do. Not in anything else. He accounted
the seed as his, Abraham's, righteousness. That's how Abraham was justified
by faith. If you make faith being the object,
being Christ. Abraham was justified by Christ. Christ is faith. You can find
that all over the scripture. is the faith in view. Faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Who's that talking about? It's
talking about Jesus. He's the faith that was once
delivered to the saints. Does He have a doctrine that
was given to us? Absolutely! That doctrine came because He
was the Word of God. It's His teaching. He's the faith
once delivered to the saints and that faith delivered to the
saints delivered them a body of doctrine. That faith that
He gives to us in the new birth so that we can trust on Him is
the work of God in you. The work of God in you is to
believe. That's Christ in you. Creating faith in us. Paul says right here, even as
Abraham believed God, it was accounted to him for righteousness.
See, our sanctification is not in the works of the flesh. Our sanctification is in Christ
Jesus, and our walk is a spiritual walk of faith in Christ Jesus,
and that itself is by Christ. If you want to make believing,
if you want to make anything else practical, it's from Christ,
not us. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10. Starting in verse 8, for by grace
are you saved through faith. That's not talking about our
belief. That's talking about through Christ. Again, Christ
is the faith. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. What's not of yourselves? Well,
the grace, the faith, and the saving. That's not nothing that's
of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works. Let's stand in your name. Shabbos. Or because, why can
no man boast about any of this stuff? Because we are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus' Son. Two good words. See, it's a creation
in Christ Jesus that is brought unto good works. We are his workmanship. If we are his workmanship, we
don't do the work. The craftsman is the one who
does the work. And we are the evidence of the
work the craftsman did. We are his workmanship. My daughter. You guys have seen
on Facebook. She makes all kinds of stuff
with yarn. She is the craftsman. What she
makes at the end of the time that she does to make it, that's
her workmanship. And it was created by her unto
a purpose that she has created it for. We have been created in Christ
Jesus. What's been created in Christ
Jesus? Is it the Adamic man that was
created in Christ Jesus? Uh-uh. We were created in Adam. The first. No, what's the creation
that was created in Christ Jesus? It's that new creation. That
one that's born from above. He's created in Christ Jesus. Where's the workmanship being
done at? In the new creation. The work is being done in the
new creation, brethren. What is being done? The manifesting
of the righteousness of Christ, the fruit of the Spirit, showing
forth love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness,
temperance, faith, How do you control that? How
do you do more of that? How do you add to? How can you
take away from that? It's God's work, right? Well,
didn't we already learn that what God begins, He will finish? And it's Him that's going to
do it? Nothing can be added to it and nothing can be taken from
it? My sanctification cannot be added to or taken away. I'm
not hindering sanctification in my library. You're not hindering
it in yours. I'm not adding to it. I can't
make it go faster or more abundantly. It's the work of God. That's
why the little saying that I say all the time. We will do all
the works that God has ordained for us to do No more and no less. Why? Because he's ordained a
certain amount of works to be done and he's the worker that's
doing the work. I can't speed it up. I can't
slow it down. I can't increase it. I can't
decrease it. It's his work. I'm just the work. I'm his workmanship. He's the
craftsman. He's the master. He's the husbandman. He's the shepherd. He's the leader. He's the potter. I am the claim. Sanctification, brethren, isn't
a work that we do. It's a work being done on us.
And then there's those that's out there that's pointing fingers.
You're not growing in sanctification enough. How many times did you
all hear that in the holiness movement? Fruit inspectors. Men judging themselves by themselves. That's what Paul said in Galatians.
These men are judging each other by each other's own standards.
Well, who's got the biggest standard? He's the one that's going to
be the one judging everybody, right? Usually that's going to be the
pastor. Everyone's being judged by the pastor. Or everyone's
being judged by the church lady over there who's got everybody
beat. Whatever it is. No, the standard is holiness.
And that's Christ. And we all fall short of that
glory, brethren. Jump over to Philippians 2. Look
at verse 12. It says, Wherefore, my beloved,
as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. There you go. There's your condition,
brethren. Have a good day. May the Lord bless and keep you. Get that Bible out. Get your
instruction sheets. Get your prayer closets in the
morning before you head out the door. Get your Wheaties. Make sure you're strong and capable.
And get out there with fear and trembling and work out that salvation.
There are millions dying and going to hell. And unless you
get out there and talk to them, don't let that elevator close
without you speaking a word to them. Don't get out of that grocery
line without telling them about Jesus. You need to work out that
salvation, but be sure to do it in fear and trembling, because
the Lord loves a humble heart. Now I'm being facetious. But
am I far from the truth? That is the mentality that I
had as an Armenian preacher. to some degree. Now we're making
a little bit of jazz and I probably shouldn't mock like that. But
brethren, that's the mentality that we see when people stop
at verse 12. But it says here, work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling, a verse that every one of us
in here, if you're watching and listening, everyone here acknowledges. And everyone that we fellowship
and every church that we know, that believes the doctrine that
we believe, Paul affirms that verse 12, and we will stand behind
that and say, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. But
we don't stop. We go on to verse 13, 4. It is
God which worketh in you, which worketh in you, with worketh
in you. He doesn't work outside of you
so that you can inwardly do what He wants you to do. He works
in you. He is the craftsman. We are the workmanship. He works
in you, both to will, and everybody seems to drop that one. God is
the one working in you to will. Well, God works in us, but He's
given us the free will to choose or to choose otherwise. That's
not what that says. It is God who worketh in you
both to will and to do. That means God is the one who
bends the will to His purpose and He bends the mechanical work
of the mind and the heart and the body to do what He wants
to be done. Now, brethren, you can call that
a robot. You can call that a puppet. We
call it a clay pot. That's what the Bible calls it.
But you call it whatever you want to call it. I call it the
truth of God's Word and we bow the knee if God gives us to bow
the knee to the truth. It is God who works in you. It is not you working out. The working out of you in verse
12 is the manifestation that men see of the internal work
of God who is doing the workmanship. He's the one working. We are
His workmanship. What God is working is seen by
others because it is seen on the outside. what's being seen on the outside,
what is being experienced in my mind and in my heart and in
my understanding, in my emotions, in my desires, in my thinking,
in my believing. Whatever you want to put, every
bit of that is directed by God to will and to do. Not just the changing of the
mind, but the changing of the action. Not just the changing
of the action, but the governing of the mind is His workmanship. So how can I look to someone
else and say, you're not being sanctified enough. Get after
it. Here, let me show you how to
be better. Let me show you how to get after
it for the Lord. Let me show you. Let me disciple
you into a better walk. with the Lord. And I know it went way long.
There's so many of these that are really good passages, Hebrews. I'm going to skip a couple that
I have wrote down here that I wanted to get to, Hebrews chapter 13, look with
me if you would in verse 20. It says that now, excuse me,
now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. You almost can hear
a black preacher saying that. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of
the sheep. through the blood of the covenant.
What kind of covenant? An everlasting covenant. So through the bringing again
from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep
through the blood of the everlasting covenant. It was the blood that
ratified the covenant. And so therefore Christ was brought
forth from death because the covenant had been ratified. What was the outcome? Make you
perfect in every good work to do His will. Wow, that's pretty plain. It
was through the blood of the covenant. Wait, I wasn't there. Oh, yes,
you were. If you're a child of grace, you
were there. You were there. Your life was
hid with Christ in God. Whenever that covenant in the
everlasting eternal realms was purposed by God Himself and the
eternal counsels of God, you were there. You also were there whenever
the blood of that covenant was shed on the cross. Because every
one of His children were in Him. And whenever He died, you died.
Whenever He was raised alive, you were raised alive. Whenever He was crushed, you
were crushed. When He was brought forth, you were brought forth.
He says, through that everlasting covenant, make you perfect in
every good work. Well, how do you know which works
is He talking about, brother? He says every good work. And
we know that God has ordained every good work that we should
walk in them, right? So God has a certain amount of
works that He has ordained that we would walk in. And if He's
ordained them, we're definitely going to walk in them. And here
He says through the blood of the covenant, we were made perfect
in every good work to do His will. working in you that which is
well-pleasing in His sight." There it is again. This walking
in His will, this walking in obedience, this walking in good
works, this sanctification that we put as a walk, if you want
to put sanctification down as something that we are doing in
this lifetime, whatever that might be, All I
know is the Bible has given very clear in the mouth of more than
one or two witnesses, has given record that it is Christ
who is doing the work. Christ who has done the work
and anything that's coming out of us is the work of Him in us.
Make you perfect in every good work to do His will. Working
in you. Do I have to worry about whether
I'm in the will of God? I used to preach that all the
time, brother. I used to have, I had sermons on how to know
God's will, how to walk in God's will. I talked about it one time. I remember specifically, I worked
on this sermon. I actually robbed this sermon
from another preacher's book that I got it out of, but it
was a deal talking about walking in the path that Christ has given
us to walk on. And every, everything is a little
stepping stone and we have to walk on these stepping stones
to sustain the will of God. And if we get off the beaten
path, oh, we've got to make our way back and get back on the
path. And then we think, how can we know the path, the stones
that God wants us to walk on? How do I know I'm walking in
the will of God? How do I know that I'm doing
the will of God? How do I know that the works
that I'm doing are the works of God and not my fleshly works
that are coming out? I don't. I don't know that. I can't know that. I don't know
it. Because I ain't God. I can't see from above. All I
can see is from below. The only thing that we can do
and the only way that we can do it is because God gives us
the understanding and the faith to do it is trusting Christ Jesus
that He is doing what He has promised to do. He's promised
to keep us. He's promised to preserve us.
He's promised to will in us, to work in us, to cause us to
walk in His will and to perform every good work that He has ordained
from the foundation of the world that we should walk in. He has
promised that that will be accomplished in us, that we will work out
the salvation in fear and trembling because He is at work in us. That every bit of that is going
to happen. Why? Because He is doing it in us.
He has promised us. Through Jesus Christ to whom
be glory for. Listen, brethren, no matter where
you go in Scripture, the story and the record is still the same.
It is not you. It is Christ. And it's not you
so that you can't glory. And it's Christ so that Christ
will be glorified. It's the same story from Genesis
clear to the Revelation. The story is the same. It doesn't
change. It's all for the glory of Christ. We sing the song. It's all for
the lifting of Jesus on high. Right? So, I leave you with these words. They're found in Jude. Can you
guess which chapter? Verse 24. Speaking of Jesus again. By the
way, I hope when anybody watches or listens or attends, they always
hear about Jesus. May we always be talking about
Jesus. Now unto Him that is able. That's where it hits the crux
of everything. We're not able. That was the
purpose of the law, is to show us that we weren't. But now unto
Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. See, it's Christ that's able
to do that. You're not. Therefore, I don't preach conditions
to you. Therefore, I pray that all preachers of the Gospel would
cease in their preaching conditions to men because they are not able. Preach to them who is able. I
don't know about you, brethren. Whenever I sit down to listen
to preaching, I want to hear somebody preach to me, the one
who is able. because I've already been given
to know my inability. The Spirit of God has made that
perfectly clear to me that I am incapable of righteousness. So
please, share with me who is able. Share with me the one who
can keep the law. Share with me the one who can
obey the Father completely. Share with me the One who is
able to preserve me because I can't preserve myself. How unto Him
that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only
wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power
both now and forever. May it always be about Him, brethren. All right, anybody have anything
that you'd like to add or comments, questions? Got that? Go ahead. Any questions? All right. Dear Jesus, we thank you for
your love and your grace and your mercy and your wonderful
work that you've done on our behalf. both legally and experientially,
both positionally and practically, both for your glory and for our
comfort. Thank you for the gospel. We're
so thankful that the gospel has spread to all generations in
all nations. We're thankful, Father, that
you have given us the Holy Ghost to teach us the beautiful truths
of this gospel. Lord, I pray for all those that
are here today and even those that are watching or listening
wherever they may be, whenever they might be listening. Lord,
I pray that they've been comforted today by the truth that is in
Christ. That all the promises of God
are yea and amen in him. Father, we pray at this church
that you would help us to continue to bring forth this doctrine. and the ones still living. Not
just the body of the teachings, but the one for whom the teaching
was given and to whom the teaching is about, the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, we are so grateful for
all that we have been given in the salvation of Jehovah. We
thank You for each one that You have brought this way today.
We pray, Lord, that You would bless them this week. We thank
You for Larry and Rosette and the 50 years that you've given
to him, what a tremendous blessing and what a perfect picture that
we see that God has given in marriage whenever we see a man
and a woman for 50 years being married and the picture that
that shows of Christ and His everlasting love and dedication
to His spiritual bride. Lord, we are so grateful that
you have given us the promises that you have and the vow that
you have given to us never to leave us nor forsake us. And so we're thankful for the
picture that we see of that in these brethren's marriage, the
longevity that you've given them for all those years. We pray
that you give them many more, Lord, as you have desired. And
Father, we just ask that you just might continue to minister
to us as we leave this place. Give us the things to say as
we encounter those that you bring to us, Lord, that ask us the
reason and the hope that we have within us. And so, Father, again,
we thank you for all that you've done.