My message today is God's Church,
God's Preacher. God's Church, God's Preacher. That's my subject. The world is full of churches
and the world's full of preachers. In our part of the country, we
have churches almost literally on every corner. I have absolutely
no idea How many there are in our little town here in Danville,
Kentucky? How many churches? How many preachers? There have
been a good many Baptist churches started here since I've been
here. And maybe some more starting
tomorrow. I don't know. There are churches
everywhere. But is there any way by which,
amongst them all, we can identify God's church and God's preacher? Does the Word of God clearly
show us who is God's church and who is God's preacher? Indeed, it does. In Romans chapter
1, verses 6 through 17, God the Holy Spirit clearly identifies
God's church and God's preacher. That by which he identifies God's
church in this text and identifies God's preacher in this text is
that by which God's church and God's preacher must be identified
in every age and in every place. There are other passages of scripture
giving other clear identifying marks But here in this chapter,
the Apostle Paul, writing by divine inspiration, shows us
clearly who is God's church and who is God's preacher. The opening
verses of this chapter, Paul opens the epistle and writes
plainly by divine inspiration, giving us a clear identification
of the gospel of God, the gospel of God's free grace. It's unmistakably
identified as the gospel of God. It is the gospel which he, God
Almighty, aforepromised in the words of Holy Scripture, specifically
in the Old Testament, by his prophets. The gospel of God is
the gospel set forth in the Old Testament scriptures, fulfilled
in the person and work of his dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is good news, good
news. Concerning his son Jesus Christ
our Lord now with those things God Identifies the gospel it
is his gospel. It comes from him. It is his
word It's applied by him. It's made effectual by him. It
gives all glory praise and honor to him It is according to the
Word of God Not the whims of men or the writings of men, but
the very Word of God It is concerning his son, good news concerning
the accomplishment of redemption and grace, eternal life and salvation
in and by his son. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated under the gospel of God, which
he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Concerning his son Jesus Christ
our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh and declared to be the son of God with power according
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead
by whom we have received grace and Apostleship for obedience
to the faith among all nations for his name now, let's pick
up in verse 6 God's Church wherever you find it is made up of sinners
saved by the grace of God. And God's preacher, wherever
you find him, is a man who faithfully serves God's church by the gospel. Let's see if that's not what
the book tells us here. Verse six, among whom are ye also the
called of Jesus Christ to all that be in Rome, beloved of God,
called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God,
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God
through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken
of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I
serve in my spirit by my with my spirit in the gospel of his
son. that without ceasing I make mention
of you always in my prayers, making request if by any means
now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to
come unto you. For I long to see you that I
may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end that you may
be established. That is, that I may be comforted
together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now, I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was led
hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as
among other Gentiles. I am a debtor, both to the Greeks
and to the barbarians. both to the Greeks and the barbarians,
he says, both to the wise and to the unwise, the learned and
the unlearned. So as much as in me is, with
every fiber of my being, I am ready to preach the gospel to
you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God under salvation to everyone
that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. Just two points to
the message, the church of God and the preacher of God. First,
in verses six through eight, we're given a five-fold description
of God's church. And when I speak of God's church,
I'm not just talking about this local assembly. Let no one misunderstand
me. Nothing is more important in
this world than local church where God is worshipped, where
God's saints are gathered in the Spirit of God, gathered by
the Spirit of God, worshipping Christ and serving Christ collectively
as a body of believers. The local church is the most
important thing on this earth. That includes you and me, my
family and your family. The local church is the most
important thing on this earth. Would to God people could understand
this. Would to God I could convey to
you the significance of that statement. I can't tell you how
often it has happened to me that I've seen church families Split
up, divide over nothing. Over nothing. I recall some years
ago, a congregation with which I'm intimately connected had
a horrible rift. And it was a rift over nothing.
I mean nothing. I'm not talking about the gospel.
God's people don't divide over the gospel. God's people are
united in the gospel of God's grace. It's not the gospel. No,
no. Nothing. I mean just nothing. Just feelings
and petty nonsense. And I went to the various men
in that congregation, called each one of them. And I asked
each of them, I said, just pretend I was talking to you, Mark. Would
you divide your family over this? Would you leave your wife and
children over this? Oh, no. And you're willing to destroy
God's family over this? You're willing to disrupt God's
family, God's children over this thing? Oh. That's not right. I said, that's exactly right.
That's not right. So start eating crow and start with the tail
feathers. They taste worse. And I'm thankful they did. I'm
thankful they did. Nothing supersedes the importance
and significance and the usefulness of God's church, this local body
of assembly, this local body of Christ in this assembly to
you and me in this place. Let nothing supersede it. Let nothing disrupt it. Let us
cherish it, guard it, and rejoice in God's goodness in giving us
this blessed assembly. But when I speak of church here,
I'm not talking about a local church. When I speak of God's
church in this context, I'm talking about God's people, God's elect,
those who are redeemed by the blood of Christ, those who are
born again by God, the Holy Spirit, those who have been born into
his kingdom, those who who live in the spirit, who live in union
with Jesus Christ, the Lord. Who are they? Who are they really?
All right. Number one. God's church is comprised
of those centers who are the called of Jesus Christ. You see that in verse seven.
Matter of fact, the word church means called out ones. The called
out ones, those who are God's people are the called of Jesus
Christ. The calling Paul speaks of here
is not just an outward external call. It is not just the call
that is issued in the preaching of the gospel. It is not a call
to some service in the kingdom of God, to some office or sphere
of work in the kingdom of God. It is rather the effectual, internal
call of God the Holy Spirit to salvation, to life and faith
in Jesus Christ. Those who are thee called hear
this call not just with the hearing of the ear But with the hearing
of the heart not just with the ears of their body But with the
ears of their souls and those who are thee called Know they're
called. I Don't know how I can stress
this as it ought to be stressed When I was a boy Back in those
days the mamas and daddy didn't have to watch kids 24 hours a
day like they do now And we'd get up in the morning, as soon
as we'd get out of bed, in order to avoid doing whatever had to
be done around the house, we'd take off and go spend time with
boys playing ball or playing cowboys and Indians or fighting
or doing something, just most anything, and stay going about
all day long. And usually I was within about
a mile of the house, but I can remember distinctly I would be
just almost a mile from home, over in the football field, playing
ball at school, where I attended school. And I could hear my mother
call. Believe me, I could hear my mother
call. And I knew it was time for Don
to have already been home. And I would take off to the house.
And I would hear lots of voices. And I hear lots of folks talking
about other things. Lots of other mothers calling
for their sons. But I paid no attention to it. But when I heard
my mother called Don, she didn't have to call Don Fortner. She
called Don. I knew the voice. I knew I was
the one called. And what person has been called
of God? You won't need a preacher to
tell you about it. You won't need somebody else to make, you
know, God saved me. God's called me. God's given
me faith in Christ. If God calls you, you'll know God calls you.
My sheep, what do they say? Hear my voice. They know me I
give them eternal life and they follow me and if you don't hear
his voice He hasn't called you If he doesn't cause you to follow
him He hasn't called you if you do hear his voice and you do
follow him that's called faith in Christ That's cause you're
the called of Jesus Christ. I Those who are the called of
God, the called of Jesus Christ, they are God's elect, preserved
in Jesus Christ, redeemed by Christ, and saved by Christ. What a blessed description of
God's people, the called, the called. Sanctified by God the
Father, preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. The Lord Jesus says
to his church, hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel, my called. My called. Number two, look at
verse seven again. God's church is here described
as being in Rome. In Rome. Rome. That rich, mighty, influential,
admired, pagan place, utterly void of decency, completely given
over to debauchery of every kind, without the knowledge of God.
That's precisely where you find God's church in Rome, in this
world, in this world. We are called out of the world
in the sense that we are called while others are left alone.
We are called out of the world in the sense that we are called
unto Christ. But those who are the called
of Jesus Christ still live in this world. And it is our responsibility
and our privilege to live in this world of debauchery, ungodliness,
filth, indecency of every kind to the glory of God. The grace
of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching
us, making us to know that we're to live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world. No, we're not to live as hermits.
We're not to live in communes and so we'll just separate from
the world so we won't have all the wicked influence of the world.
No, we are here to influence the world. Not to influence the
world to change its politics. Not to influence the world to
pass better laws. Now, I'm not suggesting that
you shouldn't do that. Be good citizens and involve
yourself however you desire, but don't be overcome with it.
Our business is to influence the world with the gospel, and
nothing will change this world except the gospel of God's free
grace in Jesus Christ the Lord. We are called of God in Rome. Called in Rome, but not a part
of Rome. Living in Rome, but not of Rome. In Rome as light
in a dark place. In Rome as salt by which Rome
is preserved. Paul addressed his epistle to
all believers in Rome, without distinction, as one body, one
people, possessing one mutual faith, the common faith of God's
elect. So it is with those who are God's
church. Number three, look at verse eight.
God's church is beloved of God. beloved of God. What can be better than to live
in this present evil world in the midst of heartache and pain
and sorrow and tears than to walk day by day with the assured
declaration from God himself that I am beloved of God, beloved
of God, distinctly loved of God, divinely loved, savingly loved
of God. It is the love of the triune
God, the great Jehovah for us. That's the source and spring
of all blessing, of all grace, of all salvation flowing to us
through the blood and righteousness of his darling son. The verse,
the next verse, verse nine, God's church. God's church is a congregation,
a family of blood bought centers called to be saints. Called to be saints. You who are gods. called, I said
verse 9, verse 7, are called to be saints. Saints of God. Saints of God. Not called to
make ourselves saints, but called to be saints. Called with a calling
that makes us saints. Now this is a huge contrast.
Go where you will. Go to whatever religious organization
you will, whatever church you will, whatever preacher you will.
They will tell you that we are called to make ourselves saints,
called to make ourselves holy, called to make ourselves righteous,
called to make ourselves pure. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. We
are called to be saints. called with a holy calling that
makes us saints, giving us a new nature, a new heart, a new will. Those who are called of God are
made holy. Those who are called of God have
the righteousness of Christ imputed to them consciously so that we
know that God has justified us by the sacrifice of his son.
And we are made holy in our souls because God has put a holy nature
in us in the new birth called Christ in you, the new man, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. We are made holy, created in
righteousness and true holiness. Everyone who is called. Everyone
who is called. What is that holiness? It's Christ
in you. What is that holiness? It is
that holy thing created in you that's born of God that cannot
sin. No, God's people are not free
from their sin nature. No, God's people do not become
more sanctified by what they do. God's people recognize themselves
sinners. They recognize themselves sinners. But they are men and women who
have been made holy by God's free grace. He's put in you something
you can't work up in yourself. Something that can't be given
to you by mom and dad. He's put in you the divine nature,
made partakers of the divine nature in Christ Jesus the Lord. He who called us to grace called
us to holiness. Joseph Irons put it this way,
in all nations, the living church of God can consist of such and
only such as stand interested in the sovereign covenant love
of Jehovah. Now listen to this. adopted by
the paternal love of God the Father, betrothed by the unchanging
love of God the Son, and registered in the book of life as a family
by the concurring love of God the Holy Ghost, all which is
made manifest in their effectual calling out of darkness into
light. All right, number five, God's
church is a people blessed of God with all the blessings of
grace and peace. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This benediction of mercy
was not merely Paul's expressed desire for these people. He's
writing by inspiration. I write to folks and I say, I
hope you're well. I write to folks and say I'm
praying for God's mercy, God's grace upon you. I'll speak somewhere
and convey those thoughts. But with me, Merle, that's just
what I want for you. That's what I desire for you.
That's what I pray God will give you. But here we have something
else. This is God's word to you. You
got that? This is God's word to you, not
just to the church at Rome. This is God's word to God's church
in Danville. You who are the called of Jesus
Christ, you are called to be saints. Grace and peace be to
you from God, our father, through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is
an assurance of grace and assurance of peace because you're God's. Grace is yours continually from
God in heaven. Grace is yours continually by
God's free gift. Heaped upon you bestowed upon
you in Christ in eternity and heaped upon you in the manifestation
of his grace from the time that he called you to be his so they
Continually heaps upon you grace upon grace in Christ the Lord
Yes regenerating grace justifying grace sanctifying grace, but
it's talking about more than that. I He's talking about grace
day by day constantly given to you. Grace sufficient for you
as your need demands. Grace laid up by God in store
for you in Jesus Christ the Lord. So that this grace is always
yours in Christ. Grace that he's ready to give,
anxious to give, willing to give, and most certainly gives. His
name is Jehovah Jireh. God who provides. And the grace
that's needed, He provides for you as it's needed. We like to
have things in our hand for future use. God gives grace day by day
as it's needed. You see some of God's people
go through some of the things they go through and you think,
how on this earth can they handle this with such peace, ease of
mind? Where do they find the strength?
It's not strength. It's not strength. It's not strength
that enables you to bear peaceably, adversity, and
trial, heartache, and pain. It's not strength. It's grace. Grace that God gives as it's
needed. Mr. Spurgeon once told of a lady
who came to visit him very distressed. And he asked her, so what are
you so distressed about? And she said, I'm afraid I have
no dying grace. He said, sister, I didn't know
you were dying. She said, oh, I'm not. He said, well, you won't
have dying grace till you're dying. You needn't expect dying
grace until you're dying. God gives grace as it's needed. Sufficient grace for whatever
the need is. David put it this way. The God
of my mercy shall prove it. The God of my mercy shall go
before me. The Lord Jesus said, My grace
is sufficient for thee. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. And
he bids us come to him boldly to the throne of grace that we
may attain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And
then peace, too, is ours in Christ Jesus. Indeed, Christ is described
by Micah this way, this man shall be the peace. Christ is our PC. He made peace for us by his blood
atonement at Calvary. The word atonement means at one
with Christ. Jesus made his elect at one with
God when he died in our state at Calvary, making full satisfaction
for our sins. He makes peace and gives us peace
when it comes to us in the reconciling work of his grace, reconciling
us to himself by the power of his grace, causing those who
are by nature enemies to God and whose hearts are enmity against
God now to be at peace with God. Oh. Oh, what a gift. for God to give peace to a sinner. Peace before God. And He gives
us peace in our hearts. Peace, the peace of God that
rules your heart, passing all understanding. And God, by His
grace, in the gift of His Son, makes His people peaceable, so
that they live peaceably in this world. Now that's how God, the
Holy Ghost, identifies God's church, the call of Jesus Christ
in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, blessed of God
with grace and peace. Now look at verses eight through
17. Here, God's preacher is identified. Wherever you find one of God's
preachers, this is the man you'll find. I won't do much more than
just read the text. Look at it. Number one, He rejoices
in God's work wherever it's made manifest. Now, we're looking
here at the epistle to the Romans, and we understand it in its context.
Paul is writing to the Roman church. I'm sure you will forgive
me, I hope others will, if I try to put this in shoe leather.
I'm not talking to those folks who lived 2,000 years ago in
Rome. I'm talking to Grace Church in Denver, Kentucky. First, I
thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. Paul didn't even know these folks.
He'd never seen them. He'd never seen them. But he
heard of their faith in Christ Jesus. He heard of what God had
done for them. And he rejoiced in God's work
among those people whom he had never seen. Oh, I thank my God
for you all. It does our souls good. It does our souls good to be
made aware of what God is doing elsewhere. And we ought always
to be anxious to assist those people to whom God's gracious
wherever they are. I said to this congregation just
shortly after God brought us together, we must always beware. of this fact. Our responsibility
extends beyond the four walls of this building in which we
meet. Our responsibility is to the whole Church of God in the
age in which we live and we ought always to rejoice in God's grace
upon men wherever it's found. He said, I thank God for you
because your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. How can I commend you in this
regard and yet speak without inflating you? God has for some
reason, known only to him, given this insignificant And I mean
insignificant people. Right here, you, this
congregation. A voice in his kingdom around
the world for the past 35 years. Your faith is spoken of through
the whole world. What a commendation. What a commendation. Because the gospel is sanded
out from this place by whatever means God gives us into all the
world. I was anxious for you to meet
the young man who's here, serves in the militaries at Fort Knox
for a couple of weeks, Jacques Joulet. Did I get it right? Been
listening to things on Free Grace Radio. Just one among thousands,
thousands, Cherish that privilege. I thank God. Your faith is spoken
of. Thank God for what he's done
for you. And understand this. Understand this. Everything we
are and everything we have, Bobby, as a body of believers is as
strong as God's grace upon us and as fragile as the sand on
the sea if God takes it away. What God's given us, God can
take at the drop of a hand. Cherish it and guard it. Number
two, God's servant, God's preacher is a man who serves God sincerely. Verse nine, God is my witness. He said, I lift my hand to heaven
and I take this oath to you in God's name, whom I serve with
my spirit. I serve God sincerely, wholeheartedly
with my spirit. And this is how I serve God in
the gospel of his son. I serve God wholeheartedly. I serve God in the gospel, laboring
in the word of God. This generation needs to learn
something about preachers. This generation needs to learn
something about preachers. God's servants do their work
as God's servants in the gospel. Not visiting around the community
and sipping tea with old ladies and giving invocations at parties
and stuff preachers do. God's servants, God's preachers,
labor in the word and in the doctrine and give their lives
in the preaching of the gospel. And they do their labor on their
knees. Look at this without ceasing. I make mention of you always
in my prayers. I've got to hurry. Look at verse
10. God's preacher is a man who seeks God's will. He seeks God's will, not his
comfort, not his promotion. Not his being lifted up for men. Not
any of those things that men seek after. Not any of those
things. God's servant is a man who seeks
God's will in everything. Making a request, if by any means,
now at length, I might have a prosperous journey, watch this, by the will
of God to come unto you. For I long to see you that I
may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end that you may
be established. That is that I may be comforted
together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. Now,
I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purpose
to come into you. This has been my plan. I've been
I've been working at it. I've been trying to arrange things
so I can get to Rome. but was let hitherto. He says, I'm confident that God
would have me come preach the gospel to you. And I've been
trying to make arrangements to get to Rome. But thus far, God
has stopped me. But now, what's the reason? What's
the reason? That I might have some fruit
among you also, even as among other Gentiles. He said, I want
to come. But I want to come to you by
the will of God at God's time in God's way I want to come so
that when I come to you my coming to you will be profitable to
you thus far God Hasn't allowed me to do what I wanted to do
and want to do but at his appointed time I'll come and then I'll
come to you and may and have fruit among you. All right, look
at verse 11 God's preacher is a man motivated in his labor. Motivated in his labor. Other
places we could say other things by the glory of God motivated
by the salvation of God's elect. But look what it says here. He's
motivated in his labor by the benefit he hopes to be
to your soul. I long to see you that I may
impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end that you may
be established. You send your pastor somewhere
nearly every week to preach the gospel. I'm going back up to
Wasilla next week, Lord willing, and back to the UK in April,
and just go somewhere about all the time preaching the gospel.
And people who don't understand, don't understand what's going
on, they'll say to myself or Shelby, y'all must enjoy seeing
all the sights. I don't ever see one. Some of
you have traveled with me, some of you men have, and you bear
me witness. My travels aren't to go see the
sights. My travels aren't to go enjoy time with people, but
to preach the gospel, and it's labor From the time I get up
to the time I go to bed, everywhere I go, preaching the gospel of
God's grace. Paul said, I want to come to
Rome, not so I can see that magnificent city. Not so I can see that city
spoken of throughout the whole world. Oh, what a magnificent
place to be. No, is I want to come to you
because I know that God has gifted me to preach the gospel. And
by the preaching of the gospel, God gives spiritual light knowledge
and peace to his people. God had given Paul the ability
to preach the word for the establishing of the churches, and he wanted
to do what he could for God's elect wherever he found them. That's the preacher. That's the
preacher. A man who's motivated by the
welfare of men's souls to do what he does. Number five, God's
preacher is a man whose comfort and joy is found in the comfort,
joy, and salvation and edification of God's elect. That is that
I may be, Frank, I find this one of the most delightful statements
in scripture for me as a preacher, that I may be comforted together
with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. that I may
be comforted to get, oh, what a comfort and joy it is to be
an instrument of God, to benefit eternity bound men and women.
Oh, what a joy, what a joy. Number six, look at verse 14. God's preacher is a man who looks
upon himself as a debtor. I'm a debtor both to the Greeks
and to the barbarians. both to the wise and to the unwise. What causes a man, what causes
a man to make whatever sacrifices he has to make, to wear himself
out in preaching the gospel to two or three, half a dozen people
here or there? What caused men to do that? Why would a fellow
Spend his life preaching the gospel some out of way place
to a few people, nobody knows who they are, knows who he is.
Why is that? What causes a man to seize every
opportunity and every means available to him to employ every ounce
of strength he has in preaching the gospel, whether by the written
word or the preached word, to communicate the gospel to others? I'll tell you what does it. I'll
tell you what'll do it. Rex Bartley, I have an overwhelming
sense of debt. An overwhelming sense of debt. I have on a few occasions had
debt. I know most people live with
debt all the time and they just service the debt. and that's
the way of life. I'm not belittling, I'm just
saying that's not my way of life. I have on a few occasions owed
a lot of money, which for me I think probably was maybe $2,000
or $3,000 at one time. At the time, I think to myself,
I can't make that next $50 payment. I was overwhelmed with it. Shelby
is smiling, she remembers the days. I was overwhelmed with
it. What am I going to do? What am
I going to do if I can't pay my debt? What am I going to do?
Sometimes on a $50 debt I'd have to go to the bank and get permission
just to pay the interest for that month. And I was overwhelmed
with it. Just overwhelmed with it. Because
I couldn't stand the thought of a debt I couldn't pay. I have a debt I can never fulfill. A debt God has put in my hands. the treasure of his grace, the
treasure of the gospel, by which alone he saves sinners, comforts
and edifies his saints. And I owe it to you, to you,
to you, to the Jew and the Gentile, the rich and the poor, the learned
and the unlearned, to preach the gospel of God's grace to
you. with every ounce of my being, with every breath of my body.
Number seven, God's preacher is a man ready to do it, ready to do it, ready to preach
the gospel. Look at verse seven, verse 15.
So as much as in me is, as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach
the gospel to you that are at Rome also. I was talking to someone just
last night about preaching, concerned about expenses. And he's genuine
and nice, and I wasn't upset with him, but I've been asked
by folks, well, what would it cost us to have you come preach
for us? I generally won't go. I generally
won't go, because I'm offended by that. I've never asked anybody
for a dime to go anywhere to preach the gospel. Never even
hinted that I wanted it to anybody. And it's not going to happen
tomorrow. It's not going to happen tomorrow. Why? Because I'm ready. I'm ready to go as God's servant.
And Bill Raleigh, God provides every need I have. He's done
it since I was 17 years old. And he'll keep on doing it. Ready
to go. Preach the gospel to you that
are at Rome also. You fellows, somebody came and asked me about
being your pastor. And sat down at the dining room table and
look out. Lindsay and Merle were there. I said, I'm not interested. I'm not concerned about that.
That's not an issue. That's not an issue. What's the
issue? Is this the will of God? That's all. That's all. How are you going to take care
of your family? Is this the will of God? How are you going to
raise your daughter? Is this the will of God? Nothing else
matters. Nothing. Ready. Ready to preach
the gospel to you that are at Rome also. Paul was willing and
ready to preach the gospel because he understood what the gospel
is. Look at verse 16. For I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because I know the gospel of
Christ, our crucified Redeemer, is the power of God unto salvation. It's the power of God unto salvation
to every one of you who believes it. Believe God, and this is the
power of God to salvation for you. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed, the righteousness that God requires, the righteousness
that God provides, the righteousness that God gives, the very righteousness
of Jesus Christ revealed from faith to faith. For the just
shall live by faith." Oh, may God give you faith. And may God
give us grace, day by day, to live by faith in His Son. Amen. You're welcome.