Well let's turn to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4. Paul's being encouraged and he's
writing to these people but they had an issue, they had an issue
that is a blessed issue for us. They had an issue about the second
coming of the Lord Jesus and what it meant, the timing of
it and what it meant for them, what it meant for those who had
died and gone before them and what it meant for people who
may be alive when the Lord, and there will be multitudes alive
when the Lord returns. And wherever there's ignorance,
Satan loves for the people of God to be ignorant. And we'll
see, as we saw in 2 Thessalonians, they'd been stirred up and they'd
been led to sort of question what was happening and what the
Lord was doing. And they'd actually, the deceivers,
the false teachers, had even written a letter to confuse the
people. And they wrote a letter. And
they wrote it and they signed it, Paul, in 2 Thessalonians
2. He says he doesn't want them
to be shaken in mind or troubled neither by spirit nor by word
nor by letter as from us. So these people have actually
pretended that they were writing as Paul the Apostle in 2 Thessalonians
2. And what they were saying was
that the day of Christ is at hand. And so in both these letters,
the coming of the Lord Jesus is a significant theme. The second
coming is a significant theme. Let me just run through some
of them for you. They actually, in verse 3, he
remembers without ceasing, your work of faith, your labour of
love, and your patience of hope in our Lord Jesus in the sight
of God. In verse 10, They'd actually
been turned to God to serve the living and true God. And they'd been turned from idols
in verse 10, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He
raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath
to come. In 2 verse 12, He wants them to work worthy of God, who
has called you unto, or called you into His kingdom and glory,
and obviously that wasn't a kingdom, that's the kingdom of this world. In 2 verse 19, for what is our
hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Ah, not even you in the presence
of our Lord Jesus at His coming. So at His coming, Paul and these
believers, this fruit of this Gospel that he had been sent
by God there, they, according to verse 20, are Paul's glory
and joy. And in 2, 3, 3 verse 13, He's
encouraging them to increase and abound in love toward one
another in verse 12, and toward all men as we do toward you,
to the end that He may establish your heart unblameable in holiness
before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ with all His saints. In 4 verse 6 there are warnings
about people defrauding others, and the Lord is the avenger of
all such. There will come a time. Vengeance
is mine, said the Lord. There will come a time. And then
we have this section that runs from 4 verse 13 down to 5 verse
11. And then he concludes the letter
in 5.23, he says, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly,
sanctify you, make you wholly, perfectly and complete. And I
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if you go over into
2 Thessalonians, you'll see that 2 Thessalonians is dealing with
the same theme yet again. So let's read these verses. before
us tonight, and I'd like to spend some little time on it, and we
may for the benefit of the rest of our flock who are away at
the moment and don't come on Thursday night, we might actually
speak some more about this on Sunday morning, so if I don't
cover all of what's here, and I don't intend to, we may be
looking at it again soon. Let's see how the Lord leads.
In verse 13 he says, chapter 4, that I would not have you
to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. And then Paul outlines
his argument for this, these statements. And it's three times,
four times he says four. It's because, isn't it? He outlines
what they believe. For we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus God
will bring with him. Verse 15, because this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent, not go before, not
precede them which are asleep. Because for the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ
shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another
with these words." These are comforting words, aren't they?
Let's read on. "'But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you
have no need that I write unto you, for you yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in
the night, because when they shall say, that all the false
teachers shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction
cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they
shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in
darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. You are all children of light
and children of the day. We are not of the night nor of
darkness. Therefore Let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep,
sleep at night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the
night. But let us, who are of the day,
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a
helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And
I love this next verse, who died for us. Who died on behalf of
us, is what that word says in Greek. Who died in the room instead,
in the place of his people, that whether we, those he died for,
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. And to repeat what he said earlier,
in verse 18 of chapter 4 where he says, Therefore comfort yourselves
together. and edify one another even as
you also do." And so the believers were to comfort each other, they
were to be established in these truths and they were to speak
them to each other and they were to be a source of comfort to
them. So twice he talks about that,
to comfort each other. We have a great and awesome God
And salvation is knowing Him. Salvation is to be in relationship
with Him. And the world says ignorance
is bliss, but not in matters to do with our souls, not in
matters to do with the glory of God and His truth and His
Kingdom. Ignorance is the mother of superstition
and idolatry, and the sort of things that we were talking about
earlier with this society of ours, falling away into all sorts
of wickedness. It comes as a result of ignorance. Ignorance of God. Ignorance of
the character of God. Ignorance of the Gospel of God.
And the scriptures lay the blame fairly and squarely at one place. Right here, it's people standing
behind pulpits who have caused this world to blaspheme God. What a privilege it is for God
to come and reveal truth to us. What a remarkable rescue the
Lord Jesus has wrought. He's rescued us from religion.
He's rescued His people from themselves. He's rescued His
people from thinking that they have any righteousness of their
own at all. He's rescued them to see themselves
as who they are and to see Him as who He is. The two go hand
in hand. Satan, who had stirred up these
people and brought these false teachers in anger and he led
them in ignorance. He is, according to the Lord
Jesus, he is a murderer and a liar. And he first lies to people and
causes them to be ignorant and then ultimately he murders them. These people that live in our
day and have lived throughout time have exchanged the truth
of God for a lie and they have worshipped the creature and worshipped
the creation and worshipped just about anything. As I probably
told you in India, when the ants build little nests on the ground
and they build a hole in the nest, which is a remarkable hole,
and in no time at all you'll actually find that there'll be
a little bit of red incense stuffed beside the hole and then there'll
be some flowers and there'll be some fruit there. Because
I think the cobra lives in those holes as well and all of a sudden
in no time at all you have a shrine. to this hole in the ground that
ants have made. And then in time it becomes a
temple. It grows and grows and grows.
Yeast grows. God's people are established
in the truth, and as we've said often, Paul talks about your
faith, and he's talking about it now, and he's talking about
the truths of the Gospel, the truths of this Word of God, the
truths about the Lord Jesus and how he saves. Ignorance leads
people into darkness and into deception. And there are billions,
billions in our world, who once they are in darkness, they can
be led by the hand and they don't know where they are going. What are they saying to each
other? They're saying peace and safety to each other. peace and safety, verse 3, chapter
5. For when they say it, sudden
destruction comes upon them. You, if you have peace, must
find your peace in the living God and His witness in your life. Don't look for peace from men. It's a false place to find it. God is our peace. He, our Lord
Jesus, is the Prince of Peace. Find your peace in Him. These
believers have had the remarkable privilege of the Gospel coming
to them. They had the remarkable privilege of Paul being sent.
by God to them. And then they had the remarkable
privilege, as we read and see in Chapter 1, that this Gospel
came with power, this Gospel came with much assurance. The
assurance that this man speaking to them, Paul, was saying and
speaking the words of God. And this little group, in the
midst of enormous opposition, with Paul having been driven
from them and enemies within and enemies without, they stood
together and Paul It's a great word, isn't it? I love that the
scriptures talk about believers. Again and again and again. Only
a couple of times in the New Testament have people mentioned
as Christians, but they're often talked about as believers. Believers
believe God. It's as simple as that, isn't
it? They believe the testimony of God. They believe the Word
of God. They believe and they are established
and they are strengthened. And as we see in this, we are
to talk to each other and comfort each other by talking about the
Lord Jesus and talking about Him in all of His glory. There are just these critical
things, aren't they, in the storyline of all of creation. What happened
in eternity? What happened? When the triune
God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,
and a people given to the Son and joined to Him in eternity.
What happened in those councils of eternity? It determines all
of creation. What happened in eternity? We
should never cease from talking about it in the most wonderful
term. What happened then in the garden?
What really happened in the garden? Did man just fall over and break
his little finger? Or did man fall completely, such
as the Word of God says, that he is dead, completely dead,
and has no hope of saving himself in any way, shape or form? What
happened at the cross? What really happened at the cross?
According to this book, what happened at the cross? Who slew
the Lord Jesus and why? And what was the result? Why
did He come? What did He achieve? What was
the success of He who says He cannot fail and He won't be discouraged? And for the joy set before Him,
our Lord Jesus is satisfied. at the cross. He was our substitute. What happened when He rose and
what is He doing right now? He is God. In all of those situations,
He is God. God and man together. And right
now as we talk here, our Lord Jesus says in Revelation 1 that
He's coming. He's on His way. He reigns over
this universe. This world, this depraved and
wicked and sad world is not out of control. Our God reigns. what happens when he comes. He's
coming again, brothers and sisters. He's on his way back. He's coming
with a purpose. I like to think that God, who
is and does have knowledge which is infinite. You think of all
of what's happening in this world at the moment, all of the thoughts
and all of the activities of all of the people on this planet.
He knows the number of hairs we have on our heads. He knows
the thoughts of people's hearts. He knows when a sparrow falls
to the ground. What extraordinary knowledge,
what extraordinary power. We cannot magnify the glory of
our God too much. But he who is wise, he who is
wise in the most extraordinary way says that he knows the end
from the beginning. What's his starting point? Like
an architect or a builder, where do you start? You start with
what's going to be finished. That's where you start, don't
you? You start with some drawings. We have this opera house. It's
remarkable, isn't it? If you look at the drawings that Jorn Utzon
did in the 60s or maybe earlier, he actually drew sort of pictures,
didn't he? Just little sort of line drawings and there were
these shells. He started at the end and then
he worked out with a bunch of engineers and others. How do
you put all this together? Our God knows the end from the
beginning. What's the end? The end is the
Lord Jesus living in a perfect creation with all of His people,
all of His people, like Him, rejoicing in Him, glorifying
Him, That's the end, isn't it? That's where things are going.
History is going somewhere. It's going where the Lord Jesus
has determined it from the beginning. And that's why we need to be thankful,
don't we? We need to be thankful to God.
Out of all of this creation, out of the billions of people
in this world, the billions that are deceived, the billions that
are saying peace and safety to each other, how many Muslims
in this world 1.3 billion. How many Catholics? 1.5 billion. And they go and they say peace
to each other and safety. When those men flew those planes
into those towers in New York, they actually believed that at
the moment of death, where would they be? They would be in paradise,
surrounded by virgins. I think it's 70 or something. peace and safety. What does God
say? Destruction will come upon them
suddenly, suddenly. But here we are blessed of God,
blessed with His Gospel, blessed with His truth, blessed with
an experience of the religious world around us in so many ways
like our Thessalonian brothers. But also we are blessed, aren't
we, that Paul was driven from these people after just three
short weeks, and we are blessed that in deceiving and trying
to lead these people astray they had a confusion about the second
coming of the Lord Jesus and what it meant for people to die. And here in all of the scriptures
we have the clearest exposition of what's going to happen, what
glorious things are going to happen, what a glorious description
of believers who've gone before us. And here we have in these
two letters, we have Paul outlining so clearly that program and so
clearly those events. And therefore if Peter says that
no, scripture is a private interpretation to understand scripture, we test
and we examine scripture against scripture. And so where do we
have something that's outlined so clearly? And then we have
things that cause us difficulties like the books of Daniel and
Ezekiel and Revelation. We need to take the difficult
things and make sure they fit. with the simple things outlined
here. You understand? Nothing in any of those books
is going to contradict this. They're all just going to add
to the colour of it. And so Paul is led by the Holy
Spirit and he says something remarkable, doesn't he? He says,
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, as if the Lord
had given Paul special revelation, special insight into these things.
Not that Peter and John and the others didn't have that, but
Paul was given a word from God for these people to settle them.
And the first word he says, he doesn't want them to be ignorant,
and he has a description of believers. What a lovely description of
them. They are asleep. I would not have you ignorant,
be it to be ignorant rather than concerning them which are asleep. Not in death, but asleep. Not that there is a denial. The
dead in Christ in verse 16, he acknowledges that they're dead.
He's not denying the reality of death, but it wants to be
understood as it really is. For those that go before us into
that time and into that place beyond this mortal life, they
are asleep. This is how the Lord Jesus described
Lazarus, isn't it, in John Chapter 11. He says, Our friend Lazarus
sleepeth, but I go that I may wake him. It's a common expression
amongst the believers, isn't it, that these that went ahead
were asleep. They followed the Lord Jesus'
word and they were just describing the fact that to us they are
asleep, but life goes on. Life amazingly goes on, and goes
on in a remarkable way. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul talks
about His own life. He says, by the grace of God
I am what I am, and His grace was bestowed on me, was not bestowed
in vain, but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet
not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether
it was I or they, so we preach and so you believe. He's just
described the Gospel to them. The Gospel that saves, the Gospel
they receive, the Gospel they stand in, the Gospel they are
to keep. the Gospel they are to defend,
the Gospel they are to stand together in. Now if Christ be
preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you
that there is no resurrection of the dead? So it wasn't just
a problem in Thessalonica, it was a problem in that whole region.
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not
risen. And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and
your faith also vain, empty. Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ.
And if he hadn't raised him up, so then the dead do not rise.
For if the dead don't rise, then Christ is not raised. And if
Christ is not raised, your faith is vain, empty. And you are yet
in your sin, then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ."
Instead of them being asleep, they are perished. If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from
the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
died, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. It's the song of heaven, isn't
it? So the voice from heaven in Revelation 14, blessed, happy,
enviable are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yes, says the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labours and their works do follow them. Paul said when he was in jail
and not sure of his future, hoping he would escape, in Philippians
1.21 he says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Christians lose nothing, lose
nothing. leaving this world to be with
the Lord. What did he say that last night,
that last supper, that last evening? He says, because I live, he was
about to die the next morning, because I live you also shall
live. Why? They are asleep. They sleep in Jesus, them which
are asleep. He says the dead in Christ. He's
writing to a church, a church that is in God, a church that
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. They sleep in Him, as it were,
as if they sleep in His arms. There is, and the reason for
our hope, the reason for the blessedness of leaving this world
is because of this infinite, eternal, glorious meaning of
this word in. In Christ, in Him, called out
of darkness into His Kingdom. Believers are members of His
body. They are in union, in a living
union with this person, bone of his bones, flesh of his flesh. And this is an eternal union
and it cannot be dissolved by death. Paul talks about the enemies
that stand opposed to the people of God, doesn't he? Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God who's justified
his people. Justified. right and righteous
to be with God. Who is he that condemns? It is
Christ who died, and yea, rather, who is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who maketh right now intercession
for us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress
or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written,
for thy sake we are killed all day long, we are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things We are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. More than
conquerors. The enemies will come against
us and all of their activities will make us more than conquerors.
For I am persuaded I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God. There is
one place where the love of God is seen. There is no love of
God outside of this place. From the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Loved like he is loved, in union
with him, believers sleep in the Lord Jesus. As Lazarus slept
in the grave, the Lord Jesus came there and he acknowledged
the pain of his friends, but he came to wake him up. It's
a great picture of being born again, isn't it? Dead, dead and
helpless, and a word comes from God. It's a great picture of
the Lord Jesus' return. He's just going to speak a word. He'll speak a word, and His people
will be one with Him. He died for us, as I said earlier
in 1 Thessalonians 5.10, that whether we wake or asleep, we
should live together with Him. Whatever the circumstances are,
His people are one with Him, whether we feel it or not, whether
Whether the actings of our flesh cause us to doubt it or not,
God's children are one with Him because He creates reality by
His word. They sleep in Jesus. Jesus Christ
both died and rose that He might be Lord of the living and the
dead. That's the first thing, isn't
it? They sleep. So you're not to sorrow. We are not to sorrow. We do acknowledge, as the Lord
Jesus did at the tomb of Lazarus, we do acknowledge the pain of
separation. But there is, with God's children,
there is a real sense. that our sorrows will turn to
joy, and our brother and sister who's gone before us is in a
place of the most extraordinary bliss, to be with the Lord, to
see Him, to sing those songs around that throne. We don't
sorrow as others who have no hope. What a description of this
world. Whatever hopes it has are false
hopes. Whatever peace and safety it
says to itself, there is no peace and safety. There is only peace
in the Prince of Peace. There can be no wrath. He's delivered
us from the wrath to come. So there can be no wrath. for
the children of God who die, who are asleep in the Lord. He's
delivered us from the wrath to come. That's why we have the
full assurance of faith and God's children have the full assurance
of hope. Over in 2 Thessalonians he speaks
so wonderfully of this hope. He says, We are bound to give
thanks, verse 13, always to God for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
where unto we called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the traditions which you have been taught. Hold the
gospel declaration that came from Paul and the apostles, whether
by word or by our epistle. And now our Lord Jesus Christ
himself and God, even our Father, which has loved us and given
us everlasting consolation, and good hope through grace comfort
your hearts and establish you in every good work and word."
That's what His love does, isn't it? His love is giving us. His
love comes and it gives everlasting, eternal consolation, eternal
encouragement, eternal everlasting comfort. And He's given us good
hope. established his people. Bright
brethren, beloved of the Lord, as the Lord Jesus says, Because he lives, we also shall
live. I just want to read a story about
this good hope, about a fellow from about four centuries ago.
That's poor Joseph, it's called. A poor half-witted man named
Joseph whose employment was to go on errands and carry parcels. Passing through the London streets
one day, heard psalms singing in the house of God. He went
into it having a large parcel of yarn hanging over his shoulders.
And it was a church where a man called Callamy was the preacher.
And it was a very well-dressed audience surrounded the doctor.
He read his text from 1 Timothy 1.15. This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation. that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. From this he preached
in the clearest manner the ancient and apostolic gospel, the contents
of this faithful saying, namely, that there is eternal salvation
for the vilest sinners solely through the worthiness of Jesus
Christ, the God that made all things, Not many rich, not many
noble are called by this doctrine, says the apostle. But God has
chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things
that are mighty. While the elegant part of the
congregation perhaps listlessly heard this doctrine as if they
were struck with anything, it might have only been some brilliant
expression or well-turned Joseph, in rags, gazing with astonishment,
never took his eyes from the preacher, but drank him with
eagerness all he said, and trudging homeward he was heard thus muttering
to himself. Joseph never heard this before.
Christ Jesus, the God who made all things, came into the world
to save sinners like Joseph. And this is true, and it is a
faithful saying. Not long after this, Joseph was
seized with a fever and was dangerously ill. As he tossed upon his bed,
his constant language was, Joseph is the chief of sinners, but
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and Joseph loves
him for this. His neighbours who came to see
him wondered on hearing him always dwell on this and only this.
Some of the religious thought addressed him in the following
manner. But what say you of your own heart, Joseph? Is there no
token for good about it? No saving chains there? Have
you closed with Christ by acting faith upon him? Oh no, he said,
Joseph can act nothing. Joseph has nothing to say for
himself, but he but that he is the chief of sinners. Yet seeing
that it is a faithful saying that Jesus, He made all things,
came into the world to save sinners, why may not Joseph after all
be saved? One man finding out where he
heard this doctrine on which he dwelt uniformly and with so
much delight requested the preacher to come and visit him. He came,
but Joseph was now very weak and had not spoken for some time.
And though told of the doctor's arrival, he took no notice of
him. But when the doctor began to speak to him, as soon as he
heard the sound of his voice, he instantly sprang upon his
elbows and, seizing him by the hand, exclaimed as loud as he
could, now with his feeble and trembling voice, You are the
friend of the Lord Jesus, whom I heard speak so well of him.
Joseph is the chief of sinners, but it is a faithful saying that
Jesus Christ, the God who made all things, came into the world
to save sinners. And why not Joseph? O pray to
that Jesus for me, pray that he may save me. Tell him that
Joseph thinks that he loves him for coming into the world to
save sinners such as Joseph. The doctor prayed, and when he
concluded, Joseph thanked him most kindly. Then he put his
hand under his pillow and took out an old rag, in which were
tied five guineas, and put it into the doctor's hand, which
he had kept. close with his all this time.
And he addressed and spoke to him, he said, Joseph in his folly
had laid this up to keep him in his old age, but Joseph will
never see old age. Take it and divide it amongst
the poor friends of the Lord Jesus and tell them that Joseph
gave it them for his sake who came into the world to save sinners
of whom he is the chief. And so saying, he reclined his
head His exertions in talking had been too much for him, so
that he instantly expired. The preacher left the scene,
but not without shedding tears over Joseph, and used to tell
this little story with much feeling as one of the most affecting
occurrences he'd ever missed. Someone wrote a poem about Poor
Joseph Tremble, while he heard him speak of wrath to come as
if his heart would break. Till through his soul he felt
the silver sound of sweet salvation and a ransom found. Struck with
astonishment he fixed his eyes, full on the preacher with glad
surprise, drank down the joyful news with greedy ears, which
reached his heart and filled his eyes with tears. The service
ended, Joseph trudged away, and thus within himself was heard
to say, Joseph was never told this before, did Jesus Christ,
the mighty God, whose power made heaven and earth and all things
come and die, to save poor helpless sinners such as I. Why, this is brave, and if all
this be true, who knows but Jesus died for Joseph too. He prayed, poor Joseph held his
hand the while, he pressed it and thanked him with a peaceful
smile. Then from his pillow he took a purse of gold. This was,
he said, to keep me when grown old, which for the poor beloved
of Jesus taken, tell them Joseph, love them for his sake. Then
calmly met with uplifted hand of death. blessed the kind Saviour
with his fleeting breath, and died. With tears the preacher
left the place, and Joseph's gone to sing redeeming grace."
To die in the Lord Jesus, to live in the Lord Jesus, is a
glorious thing, brothers and sisters. In this world that's
full of darkness and deception, we have a glorious Gospel because
we have a glorious Saviour. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we thank you again for sending the Gospel across land and sea
and throughout time and preserving it and protecting it and jealously
guarding it and ensuring, Heavenly Father, that each of your children,
it reaches at a perfect time, what you call the time of love. And in that time, Heavenly Father,
we are made to see what we really are. but gloriously made to see
who the Lord Jesus is. We pray, Heavenly Father, that
you'd continue to cause us to comfort each other. as your Holy
Spirit directed your servant Paul to write, that we would
encourage each other by thinking about these things, thinking
about our Saviour now sitting on a throne, thinking about Him
coming in glory, thinking about Him reigning over this universe,
thinking about Him working all things for the good of those
who are His own, those all loved from eternity, those predestinated,
those called those justified, those who are glorified. Heavenly
Father, help us to have our eyes taken from the things of this
world and the things we see around us again and again. Help our
gaze to be fixed upon Him. And may we echo Joseph's words
about our glorious Saviour who came into this world to save
sinners, of whom I am the chief. We praise you, Heavenly Father,
for a Gospel that really redeems, a Saviour who really saves, a
glorious God and King, the Prince of Peace. May He bring peace
to our hearts again and again in this place, Heavenly Father,
and may You cause Your Gospel to sound out from us and amongst
us that we might be encouraging of one another in the glorious
gospel of your dear and glorious son. We thank you and pray these
things in his name. Amen.