Good evening, everyone. As you
remain sitting, let's begin our service by singing 272, The Solid
Rock, 272. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely
face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood
support me in a whelming flood. When all around my soul gives
way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. And he shall come with trumpet
sound, O may I then in him be found, Dressed in his righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. Thank you. I'd like to read Psalm 75. Psalm
75. To the chief musician, I'll toucheth
a psalm or song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give
thanks. Unto thee do we give thanks, for that thy name is
near, thy wondrous works declare. When I shall receive the congregation,
I will judge uprightly. The earth and all the inhabitants
thereof are dissolved. I bear up the pillars of it,
Selah. I said unto the fools, deal not foolishly, and to the
wicked, lift up. Lift not up the horn. Lift not
up your horn on high. Speak not with a stiff neck.
For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west,
nor from the south. But God is the judge. He put
it down one and setteth up another. For in the hand of the Lord there
is a cup, and the wine is red, it is full of mixture, and he
poureth out the same. But the dregs thereof, all the
wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them. But
I will declare forever, I will sing praises to God of Jacob.
All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off, but the horns
of the righteous shall be exalted. Our Heavenly Merciful Father,
we thank you for once again allowing us to gather together this evening. Father, what a great blessing
it is. And it is so rare, Lord, that we have, there is these
little places available, these little assemblies where you have
your flock. And Father, we thank you for
this opportunity from week to week. And Father, we thank you,
especially for your great salvation, for your dear son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who has shed his blood and stood in our place and has
completely taken care of all of what is necessary that we
may enter into glory without sin. Father, what an amazing
grace that you have for us. And Father, this evening that
we may once again hear that amazing grace displayed in your word.
Be with brother Eric as he stands here tonight again. Oh Lord,
pour out your grace and mercy and spirit upon him and allow
him, Lord, to declare the unsearchable riches of our great savior. Oh
Lord, remember our loved ones. You know all things perfectly.
And will you allow us, Lord, to declare your goodness and
your glory? Give us the opportunity, Lord, to declare what great things
you have done for sinners and will you have mercy on them.
And we also thank your brother Scott. Lord, so far we are thankful,
Lord, you have allowed him to come home, continue to be with
him, that he may continue to heal and progress with his rehabilitation. Remember all of us, Lord. Some
are struggling. We do not know what it is. It is hidden, perhaps, but Lord,
you know all things perfectly. And remember us, Lord, as a local
assembly. And will you add to this local
assembly as you see fit. And remember us also for financial
reasons and for all that we need, both strength and health and
courage to go forward. And Lord, remember us in mercy
for Jesus' sake alone. Amen. Our second hymn will be 259,
The Rock That Is Higher Than I, 259. Oh, sometimes the shadows are
deep and rough seems the path to the goal. And sorrows sometimes
how they sweep, Like tempests down over the soul. Oh, then to the rock let me fly,
To the rock that is higher than I. Oh, then to the rock let me
fly, To the rock that is higher than I. Oh, sometimes how long
seems a day, And sometimes how weary my feet, But toil in life's
dusty way. The rock's blessed shadow, how
sweet. Oh, then to the rock let me fly,
To the rock that is higher than I. Oh, then to the rock let me
fly, To the rock that is higher than I. Who near to the rock let me keep,
If blessings or sorrows prevail, For climbing the mountain ways
steep. Or walking the shadowy veil? Oh, then to the rock let me fly
To the rock that is higher than I Oh, then to the rock let me
fly To the rock that is higher than I Thank you. It's warm. It is, yeah. Thank you. Let's give it a second. Feels like it's 74. Let's be turning to John chapter
17. We'll be looking at the final
words of Christ's prayer that he prays specifically for the
apostles. And these are the last words
that he says before he comes to the words that he says concerning
us, who would believe on Christ because of their word. That's
what he said in verse 20. He then prays for us. But what we've seen so far in
this prayer that the Lord shows us in modeling what he says for
his apostles and his disciples, we've seen how that all these
same blessings which he prays for them, for their strength,
for their comfort, for their need to equip them to go out
into the world to preach the gospel, to declare Christ, all
those things that they need What we see in Him praying for them,
these are the things that also are our same blessings and the
very same things that we need. And while some of the persecutions
and afflictions that they faced may seem foreign to us today,
and we don't know what will come tomorrow, but though some of
these things seem specifically to help them in the trials and
troubles that they're going to face and the opposition that
they will face for preaching Christ, which the world hates,
who the world hates, well, they're the same blessings that come
to us. And we are taught by these things
because this is the Scripture. And all Scripture is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness. It's all for our good. And we
see here a model of everything that we need and everything that's
provided for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, while it's first
to them, it's yet also of great benefit to us who are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, which is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the foundation. Now in
our text, our Lord says, our text is specifically verses 17
through 19. Let's read it. He says, sanctify
them through thy truth thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me
into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth."
So, sanctification. Sanctification is spoken of here
in I pray that the Lord help us, help us to hear His Word,
to understand His Word, because so many who have gone before
us, and many even in our day, An understanding of sanctification
just evades them, as it has since the fall of man. We see that
fleshly sanctification that man wants, that man looks for, that
man upholds, we see it in Cain, which is why he slew his brother
Abel. He thought that God would be pleased with the things that
he did to set himself apart before God. But we learn that God alone
is the one who distinguishes between men. And we see it even
before Cain. We see it in Adam and Eve when
they ran to the trees and sowed for themselves fig leaves. to
cover their nakedness. Those are forms of man's, the
flesh's, sanctification. What he does to recommend himself
to God. Adam covered his nakedness with
fig leaves. And God was not pleased. God
saw right through him. And God sees right through the
works of man and the works of this flesh. So I pray that the
Lord help us to here to know Him who is our sanctification,
our completeness, our perfection, our all, the Lord Jesus Christ. So here Christ asks the Father
to sanctify these men. He said, sanctify them through
thy truth, thy word is truth. And in Jude, Jude actually says
it that very way. You'll notice after you look
at these verses, you'll begin to see how that the apostles
were very much affected by these words. They thought of these
words. They're laced in their epistles and what they wrote.
And so if you look at Jude, just before Revelation, verse 1, Jude,
the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that
are sanctified by God the Father. preserved in Jesus Christ and
called mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied." Now
I read those verses because it does give us an understanding
of our sanctification and it does give us an understanding
of our completeness in Christ as well as our growth in Christ. And we want to understand those
rightly because the scriptures do not teach a progressive sanctification. We are sanctified by the Father. We are sanctified by Christ. We are sanctified by the Spirit. But we do grow in grace and the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior. And those are different things.
Those are different things. And so I want us to be able to
understand that better, but we see how these words of Christ
are very much on the minds and the hearts of His apostles, because
their strength, their all, is from God, is from the Father
who sent the Son who came and laid down His life to sanctify
us and gives us His word, because His word is truth. And the truth
is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now, because the Father must
sanctify these men, again what we see is, Lord, I must be sanctified. We must be sanctified. God is
the one who sanctifies us. We're going to be sanctified
by God if we are His people. All His people are blessed with
the spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We all
receive these things. Now, sanctification means to
set apart. To set apart from something and
set apart to something. For example, we are separated
from the world. We are separated from the world. And it's God that makes this
distinction. And it's God that declares this
through his word. Christ spoke of the distinguishing
grace of God. And if Christ spoke of the distinguishing
grace of God, then so do we. So do we. It's God that sanctifies. It's God who sets apart his people
and separates us from the world so that we are separated from
the wrath of God which comes upon the inhabitants of the earth.
And we are separated unto, sanctified unto, Christ. We are given to
Christ. We are His people. We are His
bride, and we're taught by Him. Now, let me say this about our
sanctification. Let me affirm this, rather, that
Christ Jesus is the believer's sanctification. He is our completeness. Christ is our perfection. We have everything that we need
in Christ. The scriptures declare in Colossians
2, verses 9 and 10, that in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. He's complete. All the fullness
of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. And ye are complete in
Him. You are complete in Him which
is the head of all principality and power. And so, if we are
complete in Christ, then we lack nothing. And if we are complete
in Christ, we have need of nothing to justify us, to recommend us
to our God. We are as fit for heaven now
as we will be as long as we shall live, as we were when Christ
saved us and delivered us. We are as fit for His presence
now because we are complete in Christ. In fact, we also read
in Hebrews 10, 14 that by one offering He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified." Sanctified by the Father, sanctified by
the Son, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. And in Hebrews 10 verse
10 as well, by the will of God, we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Once for all, Christ sanctified
us so that we are His, we are redeemed, we've been purchased
by the blood of Christ and that shall never come short, it shall
never fail, it shall never end because it's an eternal redemption
by Christ Himself for His people. And so we are taught by the Lord
through his gospel in these scriptures, we're taught that his blood availed
for us, it prevailed for us, it put away our sin, it covers
us, so that all that separated us from our God has been put
away. Christ has redeemed us, we're
His, and we come to our God in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the Spirit gives us
that life, washing us in His blood, giving us understanding,
teaching us, giving us life in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
everything after that, because we are sanctified, we have life.
We are as sanctified as we are justified. We are as completely
as we are justified by Christ, and there's nothing for us to
do to justify ourselves, that's how sanctified we are. It is
complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so everything that follows
when he creates that new man and gives us life in Christ,
every act of the Spirit upon us, every work he does in us,
It's upon that living soul, that one who lives. And we'll see
an illustration that just as a little baby that you hold in
your arms that is completely dependent upon his mother for
everything. That baby is as much a human
as you are today, being a parent, having a job, living in a home,
having all these experiences. That baby is no less a human
than you are. And so it is that every child
of God that has been redeemed by the blood of Christ is as
much, is as sanctified and as much a child of God as that one
who's lived for many years. under the gospel and has heard
it and lives it and believes it. The Lord is just teaching
us. He's just growing us in these
things, but that's not sanctifying us. We are sanctified by the
Lord who loved us and gave himself for us. So Christ is all our
sanctification. And the Father, because he did
this work, the Father hath highly exalted him and given him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus Christ every
knee should bow, so that the Father has made Christ all to
the believer, so that we look to him. And that's what he's
teaching us. That's what he's showing us. So that of God are
ye in Christ Jesus, who has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. He's made everything unto the
believer so that according as it's written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. We're learning that Christ is
everything. Christ has done it, he's justified
us, he's sanctified us, but we are growing in that grace and
understanding that Christ is all. So if Christ is everything
to the believer, what is he praying for exactly? When he says, sanctify
them through thy truth, thy word is truth. He's saying give them
that word. Give them the understanding Make
them to know the purpose for which you have sent me, that
I am all the salvation of my people." He speaks of the Word. He speaks of the truth. He speaks
of Christ. Look at John chapter 1. Let's
go back there and see John chapter 1, the very beginning. Verse
1. And look at these words in these
first five verses where he says, in the beginning was the Word,
He's praying that the Father would sanctify us by His Word. Sanctify them through thy truth,
thy Word is truth. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was
life. And the life was the light of
men, and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not. And how do we come forth, being
born of Adam's corrupt seed? We come forth in darkness. We
come forth with no life. We come forth with no light and
no understanding. If God doesn't give us an understanding,
how are we going to know that Christ is the Savior? How are
we going to know that He is life? That we're not coming to doctrine,
we're not coming to a system of theology or a system of religion,
we're not coming to a building, we're coming to a person which
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why Christ gave his
apostles understanding. He said, it says in Luke 24,
then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. To know that these are they which
testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. He told them a little before
this in, I think it was 14, six, when he said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. We've got to know that it's through
Christ that we come to the Father. And we know how easy it is to
miss it. what we are by nature because
all men miss it except the Lord reveal that to us, show us Christ
and bring us to Christ and show us that he's all our salvation. So when he's saying sanctify
them, he's saying give them life through thy truth. Give them
life through me. Give them life and understanding
to know that I am their salvation, that they would understand It's
not what you know. It's not what you do. It's not
what you don't do. It's who you know. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ, who knows us. And we know Him because He knew
us. We love Him because He loved us. And that's what our Lord
is praying for here, that we would know Him, that we would
understand that He is our salvation. And the way He does that is through
the preaching of the Word. He's going to grow us. He's going
to grow us in this understanding. He's going to teach us, but we
are as fit for heaven now in the Lord Jesus Christ because
we are complete in Him. Our sins are put away. We're
not still working to put them away better. We're not still
working to do more, to make ourselves even better off when we get to
heaven. That's not at all what's going on. We are complete in
Christ. And so one thing that the Lord
does is he brings us into his house. He brings us into his
gathered assemblies where he teaches us. We've been We're
in the one body, the household of God, right? Through adoption,
through adoption by, of the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself according to the good pleasure of his will. And Christ is the head of that
household. Christ is the head of the household,
that's we hear Him. Listen to what it says in Hebrews
3 verses 6 and 7, but Christ, as a son over his own house,
whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing
of the hope firm unto the end, wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith, today if ye will hear His voice. His voice. We hear the voice of Christ.
We're hearing and learning that what He meant when He said, Philip,
hast thou not known Me? You that have seen me, Christ
said, have seen the Father. You know the Father, you have
the understanding that you need because you know me, and you
love me, and you follow me. And so the Lord has accomplished
our salvation, our redemption, and he brings us into that household
where Christ is the head of the household so that we hear his
voice. We're not looking here for life
to do things, to get life for ourselves, to get saved and to
do what we need to do to please God. We're looking in here and
we're seeing the one who speaks to us, the head of the household,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the children of the house,
they hear the voice of their father. When we were in San Diego,
one of the things that really stood out to Michelle and I was
that when Kim or Kevin, call their children. All they said,
I won't say their names here, but all they said is their name
once. So-so, come here. Or just say
their name, and that child was there within about four seconds.
They would say coming, and then they would be there. It was amazing. Every one of them, from the youngest
to the oldest, all did it because they had been taught. And they
listened. And they listened to their mother because their father
told them, you listen to her. You do exactly what she says.
And so in that sense, our Lord is teaching us that same voice
to learn, to hear what the Lord says to us, to hear his voice,
to know him, that we might understand what our God is teaching us.
that He is our life. And so He said, sanctify them
through thy truth, thy word is truth. The next thing that we
see here is we've got to be born again. Christ, or God, is a spirit,
and they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in
truth, so that it's Christ who gives us spiritual life. He sends
the spirit that gives us spiritual life because He's obtained that
for us in His gifts, having accomplished our redemption. And He is the
truth. That's how we're going to worship
God. In Him who is the truth of God. By the Spirit He's given
us. And making that new creature
in us. And that's what He's teaching.
That's who He's teaching. He's instructing not this flesh.
He's teaching and instructing the new man. That new creature
which He has made. for Himself, whereby we know
Him. Before Christ came, we were dead in trespasses and sins,
but now we live because those sins are put away and forgiven
so that God is merciful to us, gracious to us, pouring out His
Spirit upon us, giving us all things necessary to grow us,
to feed us, to reveal more and more what He has done for us,
what He's accomplished for us. And it's because we are sanctified
by Christ that God teaches you. Isn't that amazing? It's because you are sanctified
by Christ. Not only are you justified, but
you are sanctified, set apart by the Lord Jesus Christ so that
God is pleased to speak to you through this Word, sanctifying
you with that understanding to know Him, to know that Christ
is all. So in his household, and by his
voice, he's teaching us to hear Christ, to know him, to listen
for him, to follow him, because his sheep follow him. He is the Good Shepherd. He's
the one whom the Father sent for us. because of that, God
is going to grow us. And let's just look at that a
little bit, where He tells us, He directs us to seek after Christ
through the preaching of the Word, through His Word. Turn
over to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, and we'll pick up
in verse 2. I was making an illustration
that that child formed in the womb is still a human. You know
what it's going to be. It's a human. And when that baby
comes out, as helpless as it is, it's a human. It doesn't
grow to be more human than what it already is. It may grow in
experiences. It may grow in understanding.
It'll grow in wisdom. It'll grow in profitableness
to others. But it's still just as much a
human in the very beginning as it is at the end. And that's
exactly what we are. We are sanctified in Christ.
We are as fit now as we will be then, because of Christ. But he tells us that I'm going
to teach you, I'm going to grow you, I'm going to give you understanding.
So he says in verse 2, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk
of the word, that ye may grow thereby, if so be ye have tasted
that the Lord is gracious. And the Lord does teach us his
graciousness, doesn't he? In religion, before I knew Christ,
when I was just a self-righteous religionist without the Spirit,
having nothing, no understanding of God, God was an austere man. He was a hard man, difficult
man to please, impossible to please. And I was very troubled,
very afraid, very fearful, terrified, until the Lord gave me life and
showed me Christ and what Christ had accomplished for me. And so he's not demanding of
us what we cannot do, but he gives us, by grace, all that
is. He draws us to Christ and brings
us to see that he is sufficient to save to the uttermost all
that come to him, seeking him for mercy and forgiveness. because he's done that. He's
drawn us in grace to do that. To whom coming, verse 4, as unto
a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and
precious. So that if he's precious to God,
so the Lord is going to make him precious to us. We're gonna
see he's everything that I need. Ye also as lively stones are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God. And notice, it's not by Moses
and the law that we make acceptable sacrifices unto God, but by Jesus
Christ. That's how we come, that's how
we worship God, by the Lord Jesus Christ. And He makes us to see
that more and more fully. Our God sees to it that we learn
Christ. And He makes this word precious
to us. And He gathers us together to
hear it. That we might grow in understanding. That we might grow in fellowship
and in love and in kindness and in understanding toward one another. rejoicing in what one another
rejoices in, and sorrowing when our brethren are sorrowing. But
He fills us with the Spirit, He fills us with the fruits of
the Spirit, because we're rejoicing in Christ. And so, we read in,
I have this from Isaiah 52, 7 through 9. Let's go there, Isaiah 52. Verses seven, let's pick up,
how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings
of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith undesigned, thy God
reigneth. He has everything in perfect
control. Thy watchman shall lift up thee
voice with thee voice together. That's the voice of Christ. They
shall sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall
bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together,
ye waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord hath comforted his
people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem." That we break forth into joy
because the Lord manifests that, his fruit of the Spirit in us,
so that we are rejoicing in what our God has done for us in Christ.
And so for this cause, because God is pleased to not only redeem
His people, where He justifies us and sanctifies us, but it
pleases God to make us to know what He has done, to give us
that life and that light and understanding in Christ. And
for that cause, He sends His word out into the world. And that's what our Savior says
in verse 18, John 17, 18. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so have I also sent them into the world." So Christ
is the Savior of the world. And what that means is not every
individual person. He's not a failure. He didn't
shed his blood for every individual, but he shed his blood for all
his people scattered throughout the world. And that's why this
word is published and goes forth across the entire globe, across
the entire world, so that his people know what he's done, because
there's not any salvation in any other. There's no other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And so, that's what our Lord
is teaching us. That's what He's showing us is
that Christ alone is the Savior. This is how His people are saved. Through the publishing of this
Gospel, through the upholding of this Word, to declare that
Christ is all. That what He's done for me in
putting away my sin and delivering me from fear and laboring in
death, that's what He does for all His people. by the spirit
of grace. Through the preaching of the
word, he gives them life and understanding to know, and then
they grow in him. They grow in Christ. Paul, writing
to Timothy, said, there is one God and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for
all to be testified in due time. And what he's saying there is
that Christ gave himself for the world, for all his people
scattered throughout the world. The Jews don't have their salvation
and Gentiles have theirs. It's Christ for all his people
to be testified in due time. In other words, they're manifested,
they're revealed by the fruit of the Spirit living and dwelling
in them. Christ dwelling in their hearts
by faith. So that it's clear who are the
Lord's people. They follow Christ. They rejoice
in Christ. He's all their salvation. And they boast in glory of Him,
in Him. Not of what they've done for
God, but what Christ has done for them. Whereunto, Paul said,
I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth
in Christ. Because you that speak Christ,
that speak of him and glory in him, speak the truth. And lie
not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. And so Paul was sent out a preacher
to all the world. And Christ being the Savior is
what he means here in that last verse, verse 19. John 17, 19,
and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might
be sanctified through the truth. And again, Christ is that very
truth. None of this is possible. There
are no blessings for us. There's no mercy. There's no
grace. There's no kindness for us with
God outside of Christ. the blessings of God are in the
Lord Jesus Christ alone. Just as he said there in Ephesians
1 verse 3, when he said, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places and in Christ. And as we've seen, that's in
that atonement, that blood atonement of Christ. That heavenly places
speaks of the firmament in which living things dwell. And we dwell,
we live under the blood of Christ, our covering, our life, our all. And it's in Christ that all the
blessings of God come to us and are given to us. In Christ, not
outside of Him. So Christ said, for their sakes
I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the
truth. Our Lord is not speaking of improving
himself and making himself holy. He is holy. He is without sin. He is the spotless Lamb of God. He is perfect. So what he means
when he speaks of the sanctification, he's saying, I'm separating myself
apart to lay down my life for my people. And he's praying and
sanctifying the offering as our high priest. And he is the offering
that is offered up to the Father to make an atonement, to put
away our sins, the sins of his people who hope and believe the
promises of God made in Christ before the foundation of the
world. He lays down his life to bless you, his people. to
comfort you this day, to give you peace in your heart that
He has accomplished everything, that He is your justification,
He is your sanctification, He is your all, your acceptance
with holy God who is a spirit, who is perfect, who is holy and
righteous, and me by nature, I'm not, I'm none of those things,
but in Christ, I'm everything that God requires. because I
am righteous in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, in wrapping
this up, we see here that Christ is our sanctification. He is
the very word of God, the very truth of God, in whom we are
sanctified by the Lord. Look over in Ephesians 5. Let's
just see this. Ephesians 5, verse 25. Again, we see here how the Apostles
had this fresh on their minds of what Christ said here. This
truth was taught to them so that it would be taught to us in these
blessed ways. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish." And so we see there how our God
blesses us with this word. He brings us into the house to
reveal to us what He's done and accomplished for us. And He says
it this way, we saw the Father does it. Well, He says in 1 Corinthians
6, 11, and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye
are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God. We see all, all God, the whole
Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are all united in this. work of Christ, to save a people
by Christ for Himself. And so we're blessed, we're sanctified,
we are washed by Christ, we are complete in Him. And so, in closing,
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth, just as Christ prayed. whereunto he called you by our
gospel, which was published in the world, to the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you would know he's your
salvation. He's the Savior, not as the Pharisees
who were laboring under the law for righteousness. Christ is
our life. Christ is our all. Christ is
our deliverance. He's everything. Therefore, brethren,
stand fast. and hold the traditions which
ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle." This
is the word right here. These scriptures from the prophets
and the apostles. This is the word right here.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God even our Father, which
hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and
good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you
in every good word and work. you that speak of Christ and
declare what he's done for you, that is the good word. You have
no better word that you can give to another than to speak of Christ
and what he's done. That is a good word, that is
the good word, and that is the good work. Praise Christ before
your family, before your friends and others. Praise, glory in
him, glory in him what he's done. I pray he bless that word to
your hearts. Amen. Our gracious Lord, we thank You,
Father, for Your mercy and Your grace, which is freely given
to us in Christ, abundantly, overflowing, complete in Him. Lord, help us to hear it. Help
us to see Christ, to rest in Him, knowing that He is all our
salvation. And Lord, in Him, we pray that
You would teach us, that You would continue to feed us with
Your Word and grow us in Christ, that we would know that we are
complete in Him and that we need no other. And we don't add to
it. But we rejoice and bless our
God in Christ Jesus, who is all our hope. And Lord, we have none
to thank for it but you. For it is by your mercy and grace
that we hear and understand. And Lord, we pray for our brethren
who are sick, who are recovering, Lord, who are struggling, we
pray that you would bless them, that you would pour out your
spirit upon them, help them to hear the gospel, and to be delivered
from, from infirmities and sicknesses and, and being brought down low
by, by various trials and troubles, but that in spite of those things,
you would help your people. to look to Christ your servant
whom you sent who obtained eternal redemption for us. It's in Christ
Jesus' name that we pray and give thanks. Amen. Our closing hymn is 475, Redeemed,
475. Redeemed how I love to proclaim
it. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. Redeemed through His infinite
mercy. His child and forever I am. Redeemed, redeemed. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed, silent forever
I am. Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
no language my rapture can tell. I know that the light of his
presence with me does continually dwell. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed, His child
and forever I am. I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long. I sing, for I cannot be silent. His love is the theme of my song. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed, His child
and forever I am. I know I shall see in His beauty
the King in whose law I delight, who lovingly guarded my footsteps
and giveth me songs in the night. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb, This child and forever I am. Thank you.