Standing on the promises of Christ
my King Through eternal ages let his praises ring Glory in
the highest I will shout and sing Standing on the promises
of God Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God. Standing on the promises that
cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises
of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God. Standing on the promises of Christ
the Lord, Bound to Him eternally by love's strong core, Overcoming
daily with the Spirit's sword, Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God. Standing on the promises I cannot
fall Listening every moment to the Spirit's call Resting in
my Savior as my all in all Standing on the promises of God Standing,
standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God. I'm going to read from Ephesians
chapter 2. Ephesians 2, we'll be looking
at verses 1 through 10. And you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world. according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who was rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved. And hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord, we thank you.
We thank you for the gift of salvation, the unspeakable gift,
your Son, Jesus Christ, whom you sent and gave Him to put
away our sin forever, to reconcile us to yourself. to deliver us
from death and vain, dead, carnal works that cannot save. And Lord,
we thank you for this grace. We thank you for your power,
your salvation, your glory, which is revealed to us in Christ.
We thank you, Lord, that it's not laid on us to save ourselves,
but that you did everything for us in Christ. Thank you, Lord. Father, we thank you for Your
mercy, we thank you for this day. We thank you for this blessed
time to hear the gospel, to be fed and nourished with Christ,
the bread of heaven, to hear of his glorious work of his salvation,
what he has done to save his people. Lord, we thank you for
the brethren. We thank you for those whom you've
gathered here this morning to hear your word. We pray that
your spirit would be here. that you would fall upon us for
good, that you would bless our hearts, that you would open our
ears and soften our heart. Lord, that you would fill us
with your spirit and that you would teach us, show us the blessedness
of Christ our Savior. Lord, that you would heal us
and keep us and strengthen us in Christ. We pray for our brethren
who could not be here with us this morning. We pray that you
would help them, that you would bless them, that you would heal
and strengthen them and gather them together to be with us again
soon and lord it's in christ's name that we pray and give thanks
amen all right brother one more hint As you remain sitting, let's
sing 296 all the way my Savior leads me. 296. All the way my Savior leads me,
what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy,
who through life has been my guide? Heavenly peace, divinest
comfort, here by faith in Him to dwell. For I know what e'er
befall me, Jesus doeth all things well. For I know what e'er befall
me, Jesus doeth all things well. All the way my Savior leads me,
Cheers each winding path I tread, Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter,
And my soul a thirst may be, Gushing from the rock before
me, Blow a spring of joy I see. Gushing from the rock before
me, Blow a spring of joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me,
O the fullness of His love. Perfect rest to me is promised
in my Father's house above. When my spirit clothed mortal
Wings its flight to realms of days This my song through endless
ages Jesus led me all the way This my song through endless
ages Jesus led me all the way Thank you. All right, brethren, let's be
turning to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1 in our text
this morning, we'll be looking at verses 20 through 23. And
we take note of the particular nature of our Savior's atonement. We look at what He came to do
when He laid down His life for a certain people. A certain people,
a people whom He knows. And we see the absolute success
of our Savior in what He accomplished as our surety. as the one who
paid the debt of his people. So the scriptures make a distinction
between God's people and those who are called the inhabitants
of the earth, the inhabitants of the world. And it is in seeing
this distinction that we see God's glory. of what Christ accomplished
in the salvation of His people. It's in what our Savior did,
in the fullness of what He did for us in saving us in every
way. He's called the Author and the
Finisher of our salvation. There's nothing that's of our
salvation that Christ himself has not done and worked and wrought
in us by the grace and glory of our God. Paul asks in 1 Corinthians
4 verse 7, he asks, who maketh thee to differ from another? There is a difference. There
is a difference that our God puts between his people and the
people of this world. There is a difference. And Paul
asks, well, who is it that makes thee to differ from another?
And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou
didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received
it? Salvation is a gift. It's given
by our God to whom he will give it. He is gracious to whom He
will be gracious. And so there is a difference
that is seen between God's people and the people that he does not
do this work for. There is a difference, and God's
the one who makes the difference. God's the one who puts the difference
between his people and those that are not his people. And
the saving difference, the saving difference is not made by us.
It's not made by what we do or don't do. The saving difference
is made by God. To those to whom God is not gracious,
to those who He doesn't deliver from this darkness, to them this
word is but foolishness. To them the salvation of God
is but foolishness. It makes no sense because they
have not the Spirit of God. So they don't understand the
things of God. And so the Lord teaches us that
if man is responsible for saving himself, then man has something
to glory in. But if God is the Savior, if He is the one who
saves His people entirely, then our glory and our boast will
be in God who saves us. It'll be in what He has done.
for us in His Son. So I want to show you from the
Scriptures what they teach, that God is graciously different toward
His people, so that all His spiritual blessings are gracious blessings
given in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's given, they're given
to those who are in Christ, whom He has put in Christ as their
surety, as their savior from the foundation of the world.
So that we cannot look at anything we did, we cannot look at any
decision we've made, any words we've said, any actions we've
taken to glory in them. We cannot do that because God
has done it. He's purposed it from the foundation
of the world to save whom he will in Christ. in Christ. And this is seen especially in
the redemption, the blood purchase of the Lord Jesus Christ for
his people, those whom the Father gave to him to redeem. So the
title of this message is The Distinction of Redemption. So the scriptures teach that
there is a people who are a peculiar people, a particular people whom
God has set his love and affection upon. He calls them a peculiar
people. They're peculiar because God
has put a difference between them and them that are not his
people. Turn over to Titus chapter two. And let's put a marker there,
because after a few verses, I want to come back to chapter, to Titus
two, verse 14. And we'll read it here. Verse 14, Christ, speaking of
our Lord, gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from
all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works. Now when you read the scriptures,
you'll notice that there's a great emphasis put on these pronouns
such as us and we. Christ gave himself for us that
he might redeem us from all iniquity. The other night, Michelle and
I were sitting down to dinner with our granddaughter, and I
had made a comment saying that we were doing a good job on our
leftovers. We had taken a lot of things
that were in the fridge, and we were eating them and making
our way through all these leftovers. I said, we're doing a good job
on these leftovers. And my granddaughter said, what
about me? I said, well, honey, I said,
you're one of us. And we together are eating these
leftovers. We're doing a good job on these
leftovers. Well, God did something for a
particular people, who in scripture are called us and we. So that when we read these blessed
works that our God has done for his people, we that believe on
him, and are reading these words and are filled with joy in our
hearts and given a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's because
we are the people of God. We are among those who are the
us for whom Christ gave his life and accomplished this salvation
for them. Now hold your place in Titus
2 and let's go over to Romans 1. Romans 1 verse 28. And I want you to notice these
words here, which describe the inhabitants of the world. He
uses words such as they, there, and then, and it describes those
whom God has left to themselves to settle their own debt, to
try and obtain peace with God by their own works. They don't
have the grace of God shown to them. Christ is not a shorty
for them, and so he says things like this concerning them in
verse 28, and even as they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those
things which are not convenient. You see, God didn't redeem them
from all iniquity. as he did for his chosen people. He didn't purify them for himself. He didn't put them in that peculiar
people of many, of many redeemed souls. He didn't put them in
that many, that group of many for whom he gave his life. We
cannot say that he did that for them. And so we see in the scriptures
a language of distinction. that separate out by God whom
Christ has delivered and saved them from their sins. We're told
in scriptures Romans 8.8 that they that are in the flesh cannot
please God but ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit.
You see those whom God loves He is gracious to them. He gives
them His Spirit. He applies the blood of Christ
to their conscience. He applies the blood of Christ
to their heart and their minds. He makes them new creatures.
He doesn't leave them in the flesh. He makes them new creatures
who live in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Christ tells us that
the Son of Man came to give His life a ransom for many. for many. And there's a verse
in Acts 13, 48, that when the gospel was being preached by
Paul and Barnabas to the Jews, there were Gentiles of that city,
Greeks of that city, who gathered around to hear that word. And
the Jews were fighting against it. And Paul and Barnabas said,
well, we're going to take this word, this good word, to the
Gentiles and preach it to them. And verse 48 tells us, when the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad. and glorified the word
of the Lord, and as many as were ordained, chosen by God unto
eternal life, believed." They believed. God is gracious toward
his people and the world. Because God is gracious and kind
to them, the world hates them, just as we see with Cain, who
hated his brother. Cain looked at his own works
and thought, I've got good works, I've got good ideas, good inventions
of how to approach God. Why doesn't God receive these
things? I'm the special one, I'm the firstborn, I'll determine
how to worship God. And so he hated Abel, whom God
was pleased with, because God was gracious to Abel. And he
kept Abel in the way of grace, who trusted not his own works,
not his own wisdom, not what he did, but he trusted the Lord. He believed the Redeemer would
come and save him from his sins. And so he came in the blood of
a lamb. And Cain hated Abel, whom God
loved, and he slew him in a field. Because the world despises the
grace of God. If they can't have it, they don't
want anyone to have it. If they're not special and loved
by the Lord, they don't love the Lord's people, and they're
not pleased with them, and they'll do them harm if they can. In
fact, we even see in Acts chapter 13 and verse 50, the words that
the Jews used against Paul and Barnabas was they started calling
them them. They started referring to them
as those people. those people, them. And it says
that they raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and
expelled them from their coasts. They divided from God's people.
They don't want to hear it. They refuse. The Lord is pleased
to send his gospel out to as many as will hear it. And yet
how few hear it, how few receive it. And it's in them that the
Lord has done a gracious work, a work of distinction in delivering
them from darkness and trusting in falsehood and vain works.
So God puts a difference between his people and the world, and
the world of those that remain in darkness, that will not come
to Christ and will not believe on him that they might be saved.
Because they're left to their own devices, they're left to
their own strength and works. Turn over now to Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2. And let's see this distinction
of our Lord in grace toward his people in verses one through
five. Ephesians 2, one through five.
He does a work here for his people that he does not do for the rest
of the world. Verse one tells us, and you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein
in time past ye walked according to the course of this world.
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. You couldn't tell a difference
in us from the rest of the world. We're all by nature, in Adam,
sinners, corrupt, vile, ruined sinners, and we cannot save ourselves. The works that we do cannot please
God in the flesh. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. Verse four, but God, but God
who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ, by grace ye are saved. Paul was writing this
letter to believers, those of Ephesus who heard the gospel,
who believed the gospel, who were delivered from trusting
in vain dead works that cannot save, and they looked to Christ. They trusted him. They believed
the Savior whom God had sent to save his people. They trusted
him. But there were a whole lot of
other people in Ephesus Many who heard that same word and
did not believe. They remained in the course of
this world. They remained under the power
of the prince of the air. They trusted in vain dead works
that cannot save. They are the children of wrath
and the children of disobedience. And though we were just like
them, God delivered us from them. God saved us out of that. We
were once a part of their body until God did a gracious work
for His child in revealing faith in them, in delivering them,
separating them from a dead hope, a dead religion, a dead letter
that cannot save. But He doesn't do it for everyone
that hears it. That's why two people can be sitting in the
same row, the same pew, the same row of seats, And one hears and
rejoices in what God has done, and the one sitting right next
to them doesn't hear and doesn't believe and doesn't receive it.
And unless God is gracious to them and destroys that power
of death and darkness, which rests on our hearts and minds,
if God is gracious to them, then they'll hear, then they'll believe,
then they'll follow Christ. So having heard that, let's go
back to Titus 2 verse 14 once more. Speaking of Christ who gave himself
for us, verse 14, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. If that was everybody, there
would be nothing peculiar about anyone. God has redeemed, Christ
has redeemed his people given to him by the Father. And so
Christ didn't redeem those of the world. He didn't come as
their shorty. He didn't pay their debt. paying
their own debt, and they will not believe God, and they will
not hear his voice. They don't trust him. But Christ
agreed to be the surety of his people, and that means that the
debts of his people, those debts that they owe to God in perfect
righteousness that we cannot pay ourselves, Christ has made
himself responsible for those debts, to pay them. If my brother
here, is responsible if he signs a loan with his child, a car
loan, and they can't pay that debt, you would be the shorty
for that, and you'd be responsible to pay that debt. But you know
something? You're not responsible for all
the other kids whose parents signed on as co-signers with
them. You're not responsible for their debts. You're responsible
for the one whom you agreed to be a shorty for. And that's what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done. He's agreed to be a shorty for
his people, to pay their debts. And all the rest are responsible
for their own debts. They're responsible to do their
works, to make peace with God. And yet, as we saw this morning,
we cannot make peace with God by our own works, because our
works are filthy, they're polluted, they're defiled, we're corrupt
by nature. We cannot save ourselves. And
so Christ came, mercifully, graciously, willingly, and gave his life
for his people, dying as their propitiation to turn the wrath
of God away from his people, to deliver us from the punishment,
to take us out of the hands of the holy justice of God, to settle
our debt, to set us free in him, to give us life and salvation
and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the scriptures are very
clear that all for whom Christ died, they are delivered. Their debts are settled. God
is well pleased with them. And so he blesses them in the
appointed hour of his grace, he blesses them to hear this
gospel. to be delivered out of darkness
and brought into the light and salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ's redemption always delivers
his people from death. He always bears fruit in his
people. He delivers them from death.
He is the successful Savior. He is not a failure. He did not
fail. He accomplished what he came
to do. And the Father is well pleased with him. He raised him
from the dead, declaring our justification. And so when it
pleases the Father, all His people will hear that word. They will
follow Christ. They will believe Him. Now look
in our text in Colossians 1 verse 20. Colossians 1 20. and having made peace through
the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things, all
things in Christ to himself, by him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. It doesn't matter how
many believers God has chosen and given to Christ, whether
they were on earth still then, or yet to be born, or were already
in heaven with the Lord, Christ's blood is sufficient to save all
His people. He is able to deliver all his
people from death. He satisfied the justice of God
so that God is at peace with his people. Their sin is put
away. We're reconciled to holy God by the blood of Christ. And
our Lord makes salvation a personal work, whereby he may be gracious
to them. And he applies the blood of Christ
and makes his people new creatures. We're not following God in this
old nature. by the strength of this old nature.
We're not walking by God in the strength of this flesh. We walk
in the Spirit by faith, by faith which looks to Christ, which
cries to Christ. We are blessed of our Lord who
intercedes for us, who's given us His Spirit. which cries with
groanings that cannot be uttered." We often don't even know the
words to say. We don't know what to pray. We
don't know how to pray. And yet the Spirit prays for
us, and the Lord intercedes for us, and He keeps us and blesses
us richly for His love's sake. And He delivers us from the bondage
of sin. And what that means is, it doesn't
mean that we don't yet see sin in this flesh. but we're delivered
from trying to work a righteousness from ourselves. When we see sin,
we're turned to cry out to the Lord, to seek him for grace and
mercy and forgiveness, to keep us, to deliver us from death,
to bless us in the Lord Jesus Christ, rather than turning to
dead works and trying to work a salvation for ourselves, trying
to work a peace for ourselves. The Lord delivers us from that
fear and that death and that doubt and worry. Verse 21, and
you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled. We were in complete darkness,
ignorant of the righteousness of God. And those wicked works
that we were delivered from, he's not talking about vile,
wretched sins as we count them. But he's talking about the works
of righteousness that we think we're doing. Those things which
could not save, he's delivered us from wicked works. And he's
put away our sin entirely and perfectly by the blood of Christ.
And so our Lord redeemed us by Christ, and he brings these blessings
of redemption upon us to deliver us from death and to keep us
living upon the bread of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. verse
22, and the body of his flesh through death to present you
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. And this is what
our God does for every one of his children that he does not
do for others. And he tells us why. He said
it to Moses. He said, Moses, I'll be merciful
to whom I will be merciful, and I will be compassionate to whom
I will be compassionate. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's not of your decision, it's
not of your works, but of God that showeth mercy. So God's people are described
in scripture using, the scripture uses endearing terms, terms of
endearment, terms that say that these are God's people. He calls
them his sheep in John chapter 10. He's the good shepherd, he
calls his people his sheep, and he tells us that he laid down
his life for the sheep. And then he says a little while
later in John 10, 26, he said, but ye believe not because you're
not my sheep. So his sheep, his people are
called his sheep. My sheep, he says, hear my voice.
And I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand." So the Lord's people are precious to them.
They're his sheep. He gave his life for the sheep,
and they hear his voice, and they follow him. When Paul was
writing to Timothy, he said, the foundation of God standeth
sure having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. God knows who his people are.
He sent his son for that peculiar people, that distinct people. He gave his life for them. And
how do we know who his people are? He reveals his salvation
in them. He reveals faith in them. He
manifests his blessed fruits of the Spirit in his people so
that they do hear. They do rejoice. They do believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. They follow him. They look to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who don't know him, those
who continue in their works, he says of them, I never knew
you. Depart from me. Ye that work
iniquity, you that are working to save yourselves by your own
works of righteousness, depart from me. The father is well pleased
with the son, not our works of the flesh. Our confidence is
in Christ, not in this flesh. It's in what Christ has done.
And we're told in scripture that if our gospel be hid, it is hid
to them that are lost, that are lost. The Lord knows who are
his and he reveals salvation in his people. He bears fruits
of righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ in his child. The Apostle John said it this
way in 1 John 3 verse 1, Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God? Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. God is a God who has a people,
a peculiar people, in whom he distinguishes. them and reveals
that they are his people, separating them from the world and the ways
of this world. And so there will be fruits of
grace in his people. One fruit that many are familiar
with is the fruit of faith. whereby we believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and call upon Him and trust Him. We believe that
Christ came and died and gave Himself to put away our sins,
that He is the Redeemer, He is the salvation of God, and all
who believe on Him are forgiven of their sins. They receive the
forgiveness of sins in God. They have eternal life in Christ,
by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so by this faith, which believes
Christ, that's not of the flesh. Faith is not a work of the flesh.
Faith is a work of God. Faith is a fruit of the Spirit,
which is given unto us by the grace of our God. By the grace
of our God. And it's in this understanding
of this fruit that we rightly hear this last verse in our text. In verse 23. Paul says, if ye continue in
the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made
a minister. Now the flesh hears this as a
condition of our salvation, and this is not a condition of our
salvation. Paul is not now backtracking
and talking about a condition of how it is that God's grace
will continue with us if we do this, if we do that, if we continue
doing the right thing. If that were the case, then salvation
would not be of grace, it would be by works. And salvation is
not of works, it's by grace, the grace of God. What Paul is
saying here is that the fruit of Christ's salvation for his
child is witnessed, not only in their faith, but it's their
continuing faith. Those whom Christ has saved,
he saved them effectually, he saved them completely, he saved
them fully by his own blood. And He's going to reveal faith
in them and deliver them from death and darkness and vain works.
And those that are His people, they shall endure in faith unto
the end. unto the end. It's going to be
manifest, them that are His people. So Paul's saying that those who
are the Lord's, they shall continue, they will believe and they will
continue believing unto the end because this is the salvation
of Christ. It's what He does in His child.
He blesses His people. He is the author and the finisher,
the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He does the whole
thing and brings His people entirely by His blood, by His grace and
power into His kingdom, presenting us faultless before the throne
of God. And so where the power of Christ
is wrought effectually in us, we shall believe, we shall continue
in faith unto the end, grounded and settled, and are not moved
away from the hope of the gospel. Our Savior said this promise,
I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. That's His
promise. That's not telling you what you
need to do, that's telling you what He does for all His people. They hear, they follow. They
hear, they believe, they follow Him unto the end. And so this
is the grace which our God gives to us in Christ. He died for
our sins and having accomplished our redemption, He gives us life
and hope and faith in Him. And so to you that hear, rejoice. Rejoice in your God. Bless Him.
Rejoice in Him and continue in Him, looking to Him, crying out
to Him for grace and mercy to keep us. We know what we are.
We know what sinners we are. We know what vile wretches we
are and how we would depart and be lost if it was up to us. But
we thank God for His promises, for His blessings, His grace
revealed in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Brother, if you'll close us in
a hymn and then close us with a final prayer. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn. 452, My Savior's Love. 452. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me, a sinner
condemned unclean. How marvelous, how wonderful,
and my song shall ever be! How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior's love for me! It was in the garden he prayed,
Not my will, but Thine. He had no tears for his own grief,
But sweat drops of blood for mine. How marvelous, how wonderful,
And my song shall ever be! How marvelous, how wonderful,
Is my Savior's love for me! In petty angels beheld Him, And
came from the world of blood. To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night. How marvelous, how wonderful,
And my song shall ever be! How marvelous, how wonderful,
Is my Savior's love for me! Took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone. How marvelous, how wonderful,
and my song shall ever be! How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior's love for me! With the ransomed in glory His
face I at last shall see. It will be my joy through the
ages To sing of His love for me. How marvelous, how wonderful,
and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful
is my Savior's love for me. Thank you. Let's pray. Our heavenly
merciful Father, we thank you for allowing us to gather together
again this morning. to hear the unsearchable riches
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we know there
is so much religion around, but you have allowed us, Lord, to
gather in this little corner for a long time now. And Father,
we thank you for providing this ability where we can sit here
and we can be fed and nourished the gospel, our only hope, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you. We thank
you for Brother Eric Lord, continue to be with him, give him strength
and health. And remember all of us, Lord,
you know perfectly what each and every one is struggling with,
whether it's health or other issues. Father, continue to be
with us and give us strength, and that we may in due time gather
again at the appointed time. Father, remember us in mercy.
We thank also Brother Scott. Father, will you continue to
be with him, give him strength and help. And we think also,
Lord, of our loved ones. You know perfectly, Lord, each
and every situation. And Father, nothing is too difficult
or too wonderful for Thee. And Lord, we know that You can
call them out of darkness and give them that hunger and thirst
after Yourself. Father, have mercy upon us. For
Jesus' sake alone, amen.