Good evening. We're going to begin, well, my
reading for tonight is going to be Psalm 27. Psalm 27, and
we're going to read verses 4 through 6. Let me just get this light. Psalm 37. Psalm 27 verses 4 through 6. One thing have I desired of the
Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of
the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble
he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted
up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in
his tabernacle Sacrifices of joy. I will sing. Yeah, I will sing praises unto
the Lord Let's go to the Lord in prayer Our gracious Lord we
thank you That we have a strong and mighty Savior Almighty God
who created the heaven and the earth and all things that are
in this And Lord, we thank you for your grace. We thank you
for your power. We thank you, Lord, for your
glorious salvation in your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank
you for your grace. We thank you for gathering us
together here this night to hear your word preached. to be comforted
again in the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave His life,
who shed His blood to put away the sins of all those whom you
gave to Him. And He lost none, but accomplished
the will of His Father perfectly. Lord, we thank You for this.
We thank You for Your compassion and mercy in Christ. Lord, we
pray that you would help us this night, that you would attend
this service, not leave us to ourselves, but that you would
be present here, and that you would be in our hearts, in our
minds, in our thoughts, and that you would help us to worship
you in spirit and in truth. That we would rejoice in our
God in song, and in the word, and in prayer. And Lord, that which you've called
us to, We pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Amen. Alright, brother. Our opening hymn will be 118
when I survey the wondrous cross, 118. Then I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died My richest gain I count
but loss And pour contempt on all my pride Forbid it, Lord,
that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God. All the vain things that charm
me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. Deep from his head,
his hands, his feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e'er such love and sorrow
meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown? were the whole realm
of nature mine, that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands
my soul, my life, Thank you. Good evening, brethren. Let's
be turning to John chapter 19. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
was sent by the Father in the flesh to accomplish the will
of the Father for us. He was sent to redeem his people
with his own blood. And Christ's coming in the weakness
of the flesh, it's about redemption. It's about redemption, and it's
about the blessings that our God gives to His people in Christ,
in the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. When our Savior
shed His blood, it was to satisfy the sin debt of all those that
believe in Him. all you that trust in the Lord. Christ came to satisfy your sin
debt, to put away your sin. He was made sin for you that
believe, to reconcile you to the Father, to reconcile you
to holy God, to put away your sin forever, and to bring you
into that glorious fellowship with the true and living God.
Now, while on the cross, because our Savior, here in this chapter,
we see Him on the cross. And when He was there, His work
wasn't finished. He was still laboring to accomplish
God's will of redemption for His people. And John here records
a few things. that are provocative. They're meant to provoke us to
consider what our Lord was doing, what He was accomplishing for
sinners. For sinners. Us who believe are
sinners. And this is to provoke us to
consider what our Savior was doing on the cross for you, His
people, that believe Him. So when Christ hung on the cross,
His work was not yet over. It wasn't yet finished. Not at this point. He continued
to fulfill the scriptures that were written concerning Him. And the scripture that we first
come to that is completed in our text tonight from John 19
is in Psalm 22 verse 18. where it's written, they part
my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. And a vesture is the outermost
garment that was worn by the Lord. That's His vesture, it's
His raiment, it's a garment. And the scripture's fulfillment
is recorded, this fulfillment of this scripture is recorded
for us here in Luke 19, verse 23 and 24. Let's read those together. Then the soldiers, when they
had crucified Jesus, so this is after he is on the cursed
tree, they took his garments and made four parts to every
soldier a part. and also his coat. Now the coat
was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said
therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots
for it, whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled
which saith they parted my raiment among them. and for my vesture
they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers
did. And so every detail of our Lord's
crucifixion was according to the Scriptures, just as Paul
told the Corinthians that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures. These things were recorded that
we would know that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ sent of the Father
to redeem you that believe in Him. Even the clothes that our
Lord was wearing on that day when he was taken, they were
worn to give to each soldier involved in crucifying Christ,
they were worn to give each one of them an article of clothing,
with the exception of one garment. One garment was remaining, which
is his vesture. his vesture, and that is, as
I mentioned, that's the most presentable part of his clothing. That's what people saw him wearing
every day, and in scripture it refers to that which is an article
worn by royalty, royal apparel, and it describes apparel all
the way down to sackcloth. Sackcloth. It was just worn over
as the outer garment, and they cast lots for it according to
the scriptures. Now there's three things that
I want to draw out from this particular passage before we
move on and look at a few other scriptures. First thing that
we see is the absolute sovereignty of God in all things, working
every detail not only in regard to Christ, but even with these
unbelieving soldiers. They were moved by God according
to the Scriptures. According to the Scriptures,
we see God's sovereignty, and this is given to be a comfort
to you that believe, to know that everything, everything is
in God's hand. Everything is according to God's
will and purpose for you. Nothing, nothing comes to pass
except your father allows it, except he wills it and purposes
it for your good. Even a speck of dust does not
fly across the room and land in your eye and make you blink,
except God wills it to be so, except God has willed it. So
everything, every detail that goes on is according to the will
and purpose of God. Our Lord said over in Matthew
10, and let's turn there and you can put a marker there because
we will come back a little bit later to Matthew. But in Matthew
10 and verse 29, our Lord speaks of this intimate, these seemingly
minute details that our God is in control of, that he is fully
aware of, and happens according to his will and purpose. Verse
29, are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? That's cheap. That's cheap, because there's
plenty of sparrows, is what he's saying. And one of them shall
not fall on the ground without your father. but the very hairs
of your head are all numbered. Something as insignificant as
one hair your father knows, and that hair doesn't fall to the
ground except your father knows of it. Fear ye not therefore,
ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore
shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before
my Father which is in heaven." And one of the comforts that
I take from this passage here is I don't need to waste my time
and my energy in regret and in sorrow and beating myself up
over things that are past. things that have happened, things
that I no longer have any control over. What's done is done, and
it's according to your Father. And that's a great comfort. That
lifts the burden off of us to know God knows about it, and
it's happened, and it's in His hands, and I may lay that care
at His feet and leave it with Him and trust Him. And so, be
faithful with what your God has given to you today. Be faithful
with what He's given you today, because all things are in the
past. They're in the past. They're
with Christ. Be faithful with what He's given you today. Confess
Christ, doubting nothing. Doubting nothing. We beat ourselves
up. We're ashamed to confess, to call ourselves Christians
at times, just knowing what we are in this flesh, in our heart,
in our minds, what we've done. We're ashamed to confess it.
The Lord says, you confess me. Don't be ashamed. You confess
me before men. It is what it is. Doubt nothing,
and God's purpose shall be brought to pass. Shall be brought to
pass, and whatsoever happens, it's for our good. It's for our
good. And everything, he says, give
thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. Give thanks for it all. And that's
hard. That's hard when we're blaming
ourselves and disappointed in ourselves and looking at ourselves. It's hard because we just want
to heap up sorrow on ourselves. But he says, give thanks. Give
thanks because you are where God has put you. And everything
that's brought to pass is exactly as your father intended it and
purposed it. And it'll be for your good. Second
is what we see in the behavior of the people of this world.
In verse 25 back in our text, we know that Jesus' mother Mary
was standing near the cross, but nothing was done by these
soldiers to return anything of her son's belongings to her. Maybe they didn't even know that
she was his mother. Maybe they didn't even know.
But nothing was done at that time to get those belongings
back to those of his family. And this behavior of the soldiers
was probably very normal for what they did back in those days.
It would be like a soldier in a field of battle. If he slew
another man, he would take of the treasure that he had. Whether
it was a piece of armor or a little bit of silver or something like
that on him, he would take it to himself. And that's probably
what these executioners did of those that they executed. They
would take their belongings. But this serves as a reminder
for us that the things of this world, this is the portion of
the wicked. What they take in this world,
what they gain from themselves in this world, this is all their
portion. This is all that they have. And
it's what they work for and what they strive for, what they spend
and labor for, is the things in this life. And then it's gone. And then it's gone. Turn over
to Psalm 73, because the psalmist here wrote of this, and we can't
read it all, but we'll read a few verses in Psalm 73. We'll pick up in verse 3. where the psalmist says, I almost
fell. I almost fell looking at the
wicked. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked. Look down at verse five and six.
They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued
like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them
about as a chain, violence covereth them as a garment. Verse eight,
they are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression, they speak
loftily. When we observe the wicked, those
whose inheritance is but the things of this world, if that's
all we see, if all we are looking at is what they have in this
world and the things of this world, we too would stumble and
fall, just like the psalmist is confessing here that he was
envious for a time. but drop down to verse 16. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me. until I went into the sanctuary
of God. Then understood I their end. Therein, surely thou did set
them in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation? As in a moment, they are utterly
consumed with terrors." And that speaks to their end, their end
in this life. They take what they want to take,
and they get what they get in this life. But in the next life,
they get what they've earned. They get what they've earned.
They take what they want now, but they get what they've earned
in that which is to come. And what they've earned is the
wages of sin, which is death. And this is what they have. And
so the Lord says, don't you set your heart on those things. Don't
set your heart on the carnal things of this world. Don't strive to be like them
because their hope is the hope of them that perish from the
presence of the Lord. But what Christ has given you
is the inheritance of the saints to dwell in the presence of the
Lord forever. Forever. Their end is misery
and darkness, but yours is light and satisfaction. Your end is joy and peace and
rest forevermore in the presence of your God because of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for you, who sacrificed
himself to the Father to make an atonement for your sins. You know, when you think about
it, countless men and women are just like these soldiers with
regard to Christ. Multitudes, multitudes took from
Christ what they wanted. Just like those soldiers, each
one taking a part. They took the temporary things
that they could get, and that was their satisfaction. They
were happy with that. For many, it was a meal of bread
and fish. For others, it was the excitement
and the joy of seeing a miracle performed by the Lord. Herod
wanted to see that. That's what he wanted. He was
hoping that he would see some miracle performed by Christ. And Christ did nothing. Christ
didn't even say anything to that man. That man had nothing in
Christ. Nothing in him. Others probably
rejoiced to hear him rebuke the religious authority in their
day and speak with the authority that they had never heard, and
that was their satisfaction. When Pentecost took place, when
the Spirit came upon the disciples, we're told there was but 120
of them that were gathered together. 120 after all that time with
the Lord himself walking in Judea and in Samaria. and injury, as
it's called. And only 120 believed Him. You
know, man is fine with taking bits and pieces of Christ, but
how few are satisfied with the whole person of Jesus Christ. And you that love Him, you that
need Him, you that find no satisfaction in this life but in Him, Thank
God for that, because that is the grace and the mercy of God
for His people. That's the satisfaction that
He gives to His saints that others of this world are not satisfied
with. They want something more. They want something physical
and something tangible, but you're satisfied with Christ. You're
satisfied with Him. And the third thing that we see
here is that while the world contents itself with carnal things,
Christ has made his people heirs of eternal things. Heirs of eternal
things. This world stripped our Lord
of those temporary things, of his clothes, and those things
rotted. Those things became moth-eaten
and fell apart and were destroyed and are back in the dust now. But one thing that they can't
touch, one thing that they cannot put their hands on is the eternal
things. They cannot lay hold on anything
in the everlasting spiritual kingdom of our God. They can't
reach there. There's a cavern, a gap too far
that they cannot cross over from there to where our Lord is. And
where our Lord is, is where His people are. Even now, by faith,
we are in the presence of our God. And we are with Him, and
they cannot touch you there. They cannot take anything that
your God has given to you in that spiritual kingdom. This
is what our Lord spoke of back in Matthew 6. Let's go back to
Matthew, this time Matthew 6, and look at verse 19. 19 through 21, he said, lay not
up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. He's saying
don't put your heart on those things. Don't put your trust
in those things. If you have them, fine, use them for the
glory of God and for his kingdom. But don't put your heart on those
things because they can be gone just like that. But those things
that are eternal, those things obtained for you by the Lord
Jesus Christ, they cannot be touched. They will not be taken
away. They are forever. They are eternal,
and your Lord has given them. He said, lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. You know, by taking his
clothes, it means that when they crucified Christ, they crucified
him naked. He had no clothes on him whatsoever. And yet, there on the cross,
our Lord was laboring, laboring to weave together a garment of
perfect righteousness to cover your nakedness. We're naked. We think that here we are clothed
and that we're fine, but we're naked before the true and living
God in this flesh, by this nature, by the works that we've done
in this flesh, the good works, the things that we call righteousness,
they leave us naked. But Christ did not leave you
naked. He covers you with His righteousness,
His righteous garment, so that now you can stand boldly before
your God, not proud with your own works, but glory, boasting
in the precious, righteous robe of the Lord Jesus Christ that
adorns you. By His grace and mercy, He labored
while He was naked on the cross to make a covering for you. Isaiah 61.10 says, I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for
he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Our Savior came in the garments
of salvation. His Father put on Him the garments
of salvation, and He clothes us with that righteous robe. And the garment that He's given
to us, it's adorned. It's adorned with all the blessings
of God given to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the bridegroom
who was called and sent to the Father. He came to earth in the
weakness of this flesh to make a righteousness for his bride,
to clothe her. You that believe so that now
you are without wrinkle or spot or blemish or bruise. Some of
you here have been married and you've put on that beautiful
white wedding garment and you look beautiful. and it was adorned
with ornate things. And that's what our Savior has
given to every one of his children, who is the bride and body of
Christ. We are adorned with that beauty
of our Savior. We're adorned with all his righteousness
and all his blessings. These are the precious jewels
that we boast of. And we spin around before others
and show off that beautiful dress that our Savior has given to
us, glorying in Him. And so all this can only be explained
by the grace of God. who chose whom He would, gave
them to Christ. There's nothing in us. It's not
my character. It's not our character. It's
not our goodness. It's nothing in us that we've
earned for ourselves. It's all been obtained for us
by the labor and the work of Christ alone on that cross with
no man helping Him to provide a perfect righteousness for you
that believe in Him. We were chosen of God in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him in love. And we stand holy and
without blame, clothed in that wedding garment. That is our
spotlessness. That is our righteousness, what
Christ has obtained for us. Now back in our text, in John
19, We see how that Christ's work on the cross, when he was
there, he provided for the needs of others. Look at verse 25 through
27. Now there stood by the cross
of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, who is Mary, the wife
of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. So there's three Marys. So you
know Mary, the wife of Cleopas, would have either been Joseph's
sister Mary or Joseph's brother Cleopas' wife Mary. And that's how she's related
to her there. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, And the disciple
standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman,
behold thy son. He didn't even say mother. Probably
for good reason. He didn't even say mother. He
said, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple
took her unto his own home. That's pretty amazing that John
loved Christ. The love of Christ was so powerful,
so efficacious in John's heart that he honored the word of his
master who was on the cross. John didn't wait until after
Christ rose again and said, oh, I better do what he asked me
to do. He took her into his home as his own mother from that very
hour, it says. Now, this is certainly a beautiful
picture of our Lord's caring for his own family in the world. It regards what he was supposed
to do as the son of Mary. Joseph would have been dead by
now, and Christ, the oldest son, was responsible to care for his
mother, and he gave her to the care of his disciple John, to
take her into his own house and care for her as his own mother.
And what it shows us is not only how that He took care of the
earthly needs and fulfilling that which was required of Him,
adorning that and doing that which was lawful and right, but
it also says to us that even while on the cross, what our
Lord was doing was making full provision of everything you need. If He thought to take care of
that detail, you can be certain that He takes care of every detail
and every promise He's made, that He's prepared a place for
you, that He shall return. And when He returns, He will
raise you from the dead and you shall be with Him forever. That
promise is fulfilled unto you. nothing falls flat, nothing that
our Lord has said will ever come short of being fulfilled by him
to you who he's promised that word to. And you that believe
him that he shall fulfill it, he shall indeed fulfill it to
you exactly. To the full measure of it, press
down and to the full, overflowing, our Lord shall give to you all
the fullness of his word. You shall have more than you
think yourself deserving. Because everything he does for
us, we know that we're undeserving of it. But we can't even think
of how much our Lord will give to us. I'm sure it will be an
incredible, overwhelming day when we stand in the presence
of our God, received of Him. and every sorrow, every pain,
every loss that we've suffered or experienced in this life shall
fall away immediately and be nothing compared to the glory
of our God and what we shall see and receive in Him in that
day. It's going to be glorious, brethren.
I'm certain of it. I am certain of it. And you know
it, too. You know it. You know it, too. So, He's done this for you, His
body. We're even adopted into the family
of our God. We are adopted sons and daughters
in the family of God. How shall He not give you that
which you need? How shall He not give to you
what He's purposed to give you and how He's determined to use
you for His kingdom, for His glory? And He's going to make
you fine with that, fine with what the Lord has purposed to
give you. He settles us and turns us and makes us to know this
is of His hand, it's of Him. And he'll turn us to pray and
say, Lord, bend my heart to be thankful and happy with what
you've given to me, because I know it's abundantly above all that
I deserve, all that I could ask or thank, Lord. It's good and
right. It says in Ephesians 1, 5, and 6 that He predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Now finally, the last portion
of scripture that we'll read tonight is in verses 28 through
30. John 19, 28 through 30. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar, and they filled the sponge with vinegar, and put
it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. and he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Now, concerning his sufferings,
that was the cause of him saying, I thirst. We see this in Psalm
22, 15. It speaks of this. It gives us a sense of what our
Savior was enduring on the cross at that time in making an atonement
for our sins. Psalm 22, 15 says, my strength
is dried up like a potsherd. That's like a broken clay pot
vessel, a potsherd. It's dry. It's dry. And my tongue
cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast brought me into the dust
of death. And we're told that in his thirst
they gave him vinegar, sharp vinegar to drink. But as I was
thinking of this, again we see that our Lord had others in view. He had His people in view. His lost sheep that are sinners. His lost sheep that are wayward. His lost sheep that have gone
astray unto His own way just like all sheep do. We've all
gone to our own way. And he had his lost sheep in
view. And he says, I thirst. Now, as a sinner, I hear the
voice of a gracious Savior, a gracious Savior, who was lifted up on
that cross, allowed himself, was willingly raised up on that
cross. He went there on purpose, for
the purpose of saving his people. And He draws all men whom the
Father gave to Him, He draws all men, those men, men and women,
believers, to Himself. He foretold of this. He said,
If I be lifted up from the earth, He will draw all men unto Me,
which He said signifying what death He should die. He was speaking
of the cross. I know something of what it is
to thirst, and you know something of what it is to thirst. We've all experienced some level
of that in our lives, but it's an amazing thought to think that
our Creator and our Savior here thirsted for His people. Thirsted to save his people. Thirsted to deliver them from
darkness. This was the day that he looked
forward to. He looked forward to this day,
to this hour, when he would effect the salvation that he came to
accomplish for his people. for you that now believe in Him,
and for all His people who are lost, lost sinners who have gone
astray. I believe he recorded this word
on purpose. I believe that he recorded this
word here to go forth like a beacon of light into a dark world. A dark world, a dark place, a
world full of fallen man, ruined in sin, in darkness, going crazy
in sin and in wickedness and doing that which he purposes
to do and thinks this is all there is. He sends this word
forth as a beacon. to seek out his people who are
sinners and have nothing to save themselves by. No righteousness,
no goodness, nothing to recommend us to God. We're naked. We have
no covering. We're just like Adam and Eve.
We go to foolish things that rot and fall apart. It's not
a covering. It cannot save us. We're destitute,
just like all sinners are. We have no one to care for us,
no one to provide for us, no one to look after us. Not in
this flesh. Not according to this nature,
we don't. And sinners are guilty before
holy God and God promises that He shall punish all sin. He shall punish all sin. But to you that despair of your
sin, that know that we are sinners, that know what you are before
holy God, Christ said from the cross, I thirst. I thirst. He says that you need not thirst
anymore, nor want for a righteousness. I'm thirsting. I'm taking your
place and bearing this punishment. and sacrificing myself to the
Father, bearing the wrath of God, which was for you, for your
sin, to put it away. I thirst that you need not thirst
anymore for righteousness, because I've provided a fullness, a full
righteousness that is all that you need. How is it that this
man who hung on a cross and died in weakness could satisfy my
thirst in saying, I thirst? How is this possible? Well, he
once said to a woman at a well, if thou knewest the gift of God,
and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest
have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. This one who says, I thirst.
We come to him and say, Lord, I thirst. I thirst for that righteousness
that you have obtained for all your people. Lord, give me a
drink. I have nothing to give to you,
but Lord, give me that drink of living water that only you
give to your people. Lord, draw me to yourself. Let me hear your voice. Satisfy me of all my needs, Lord. Make me to rejoice in you evermore. Christ is the gift of God. He is the unspeakable gift that
none of us can fully declare or explain or describe. He's
the mystery of God revealed. He's the light of God by whom
we know who the Father is. He is the satisfaction. He satisfied
God, and he satisfies his people. so that we come to God in Him. He died our death, He bore our
burden for all that believe Him. All our debts are satisfied with
God. He said it is finished. And He was speaking of the whole
will of God that God purposed for Him to accomplish in the
flesh. is finished. It's all been done. It's all
satisfied by Christ. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Everything that he was sent to
do in the weakness of his humanity was accomplished, exactly as
it was written in the scriptures according to the will and purpose
of God. All that the Father sent him
to do in declaring the gospel, in working miracles, in fulfilling
righteousness, to satisfy and magnify the law, in putting away
the sin of His people, in clothing our nakedness, in fulfilling
every need that we have, there's nothing more that the weary sinner
needs thirst for ever again. He's sufficient and we're satisfied
in Him. You that believe Him, are you
not satisfied that Christ is all you need to stand before
the Father? He is sufficient, brethren. He's
sufficient. You that believe Him, your salvation
is accomplished fully in Christ. And the reason why we know this
is because God raised Him from the dead. That's the assurance
that God has given us in that He's raised Him from the dead.
And He now says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved. You shall be saved. And so, This
is the work of God. This is the work of our God that
you believe on Him whom He hath sent. Many in the flesh want
to complete the will of God by some work, but there's nothing
left to do. It's all finished. It's complete
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest in Him. Thirst for nothing
more. He is the satisfaction of the
sinner that believes in Him. Amen. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord,
we thank you for this grace which you've given to us in your Son.
We thank you for the gift of your Son, our Savior. Lord, we
thank you for your grace and mercy which is given to us fully,
freely, abundantly in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, I realize
that I have only scraped the surface of that which transpired
here on the cross between our God and our Savior. I don't even
understand it fully, but I know that you are satisfied with Him,
and that there's nothing I need bring. I need only come in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, we come. We come believing,
by faith, we come in the Lord Jesus Christ, having nothing.
but the righteousness, that righteous garment which He has woven for
us by His shed blood and death on the cross when He made a perfect
righteousness for us. Lord, receive us in Him. We want for nothing more. Lord,
satisfy us always and only in that precious water of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. Our closing hymn will be from
this handout I gave you, Preserved in Christ. How safe is all the chosen race,
Reserved in Christ our Head, Before He called us by His grace,
And after calling led. Preserved in Christ and taught
to love, His name, His saints, His word. Preserved to gain a
throne above, And praise and love the Lord. We serve when
earth and hell oppose, preserved in life and death. Preserve when wrath destroys
our foes and victory crowns our faith. Preserve Ms. Satan's fiery darts through all
this wilderness. Preserve from our own wretched
hearts to everlasting bliss. Thank you.