Tell me the story of Jesus, write
down my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. Tell how the angels in chorus
sang as they welcomed his birth. Glory to God in the highest Peace
and good tidings to earth Tell me the story of Jesus Write on
my heart every word Tell me the story most precious Sweetest
that ever was heard Fasting alone in the desert, tell of the days
that are past. How for our sins he was tempted,
yet was triumphant at last. Tell of the years of his labor,
tell of the sorrow he bore. He was nice and afflicted, homeless,
rejected, and poor. Tell me the story of Jesus, write
on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. Tell of the cross where they
knelt Him, writhing in anguish and pain. Tell of the grave where
they laid Him, tell how He liveth again. Love in that story so
tender, clearer than ever I see. Stay, let me weep while you whisper,
love paid the ransom for me. Tell me the story of Jesus, write
on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. Thank you. I'm going to read
from John 11. John 11. John 11. Let's pick
up in verse 32. Then when Mary was come where
Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto
him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping
which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled,
and said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord,
come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews,
Behold how he loved him. And some of them said, could
not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused
that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again,
groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and
a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, take ye away the
stone. Martha, the sister of him that
was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh. for
he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, said I
not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the
glory of God? Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up
his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the
people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that
thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead
came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face
was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, loose
him and let him go. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace and mercy, which is shown to us, preached
to us, declared to us, revealed in our hearts the glory of our
Lord and Savior, whom you raised from the dead. and that all power
and authority is given to him. He has the keys of heaven and
hell, and he has the authority and power to raise up from the
dead whom he will. And Lord, we rejoice in the thought
of that day when you come to redeem all your purchased possession,
to take us to yourself, to be with you forever and ever. Lord,
we look forward to that day. For in this life, in this time,
we know and suffer and feel the infirmities and the sorrows that
are ours in this flesh. We know the weakness of this
flesh, the curse that was pronounced upon Adam by the sweat of our
brow in the midst of thorns and thistles and brambles that we
shall bring forth, but Lord, We thank you that in Christ we
have all, that he accomplished all, that he did everything,
fulfilling all righteousness for us. And we rejoice in his
resurrection this day, Lord, as we remember what he did for
us. Lord, please bless our hearts. Be with our brethren who are
suffering, those who are sick, Those who are weak and unable
to be here with us, we pray that your spirit would be upon them,
that you would bless them, that you would reveal Christ in their
hearts and minds. Lord, that you would comfort
us this day, that you would teach us the truth, help us to hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Lord, we pray, especially
for our brother Scott, that you would heal him, that you would
make him well, that he may begin the rehab process and be delivered
from that hospital and the rehab facility and get home. And Lord, that you would bless
all your people who are sick, who have heavy hearts, who are
troubled about many things. Lord, you know all things and
you know how to comfort your people. Bless them. Give them
rest and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. Let's sing our second hymn, 143. Rejoice, the Lord is King. I'm almost positive this music's
gonna be really good, but I gotta make sure. I think we'll be okay. I brought it in from that nice
website, so. 143. Rejoice, the Lord is King Your
Lord and King adored Rejoice, give thanks and sing and triumph
evermore Lift up your hearts Lift up your voice, rejoice again,
I say rejoice. Jesus the Savior reigns, the
God of truth and love. When he had purged our sins,
he took his seat above. Lift up your heart. Lift up your voice. Rejoice again, I say, rejoice. ? Freedom cannot fail ? ? Leave
rules or earth and heaven ? ? The keys of death and hell are to
our Jesus given ? ? Lift up your heart ? ? Lift up your voice,
rejoice again, I say rejoice again ? Rejoice in glorious hope
Our Lord the Judge shall come And take his servants up to their
eternal home Lift up your hearts Lift up your voice, rejoice again,
I say rejoice. Thank you. Returning to John chapter 17. John 17. Our text begins in verse 1. These words spake Jesus. These words spake Jesus. This
is referring to everything that our Lord had said, both this
night in which he declared these blessed, comforting promises
and words of truth and peace to his disciples, and all the
words that he spake to his disciples to strengthen them, to teach
them the truth. to make known to them his promises,
to encourage their trembling hearts. And he now is going to
make good on his word. He's now preparing himself the
sacrifice as the high priest of his people. to make an atonement
for their sins. He's now going to make good on
all the words that he has spoken to his disciples, everything
the Father sent him to do. And he tells us, I do those things
that the Father has given me to say and to do. And everything
that he promised and said he would do, he's now going to make
good on that word. And so here, as the High Priest,
as the Lamb of God, as the Christ of God, who was sent unto the
Father, delivered unto this death for the life of his people, he's
now going to make good, he's going to make good on every word
of promise, everything he said. And so now having spoken these
words, he begins his work as the high priest to ready himself
to prepare the sacrifice the way the high priest prepared
the sacrifice to put on that day of atonement. So Christ is
preparing himself the sacrifice to make an atonement for the
sins of the people. And it says that he lifted up
his eyes to heaven. And so these words here in John
17 record the prayer of our High Priest unto the Father. And so we're going to be looking
at verses 1 through 4 this morning. But let's look to Christ, our
Savior, our Lord, our High Priest, and behold Him as He prepares
Himself the sacrifice for His people. I've titled this, Making
Good on His Word. Let's read verse 1 now. These
words spake Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven. and said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. Who is this Jesus of Nazareth,
and why is he speaking like this? Who is he that he can call God
his father? This is Christ, and he's speaking
to God, and he calls him his father. Is this man, this Jesus
of Nazareth, is he the son of God? Is this God come in the
flesh as the Christ, the promise of God, who would send the Christ
to save his people from their sins? Is that who this is? The
testimony of God the Father says to us, this is my beloved son,
in whom I am well pleased, here This is the testimony of the
Holy Spirit who raised Him from the dead, justifying Him in the
Spirit. This is the testimony of the
scriptures that testify from Genesis 1-1 all the way to the
end of Revelation 22. declaring to us that this is
the Son of God, this is the Christ of God. And the witnesses, these
disciples which saw him and heard him speak, who beheld his glory
both before his death and resurrection and after his resurrection. They saw him and they preached
Christ, hazarding their lives. Not valuing their lives, but
valuing Christ above all so that they preach the gospel at the
expense of their lives, of their possessions, of all the things
they had in the flesh. They gave those up that they
might declare to you this day that this Jesus of Nazareth is
the Son of God. He is the Lamb of God. He is
the Christ promised of God before the foundation of the world that
He should save His people from their sins. They all say that
this Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Son of God and He accomplished
the will of God in redeeming His people. He has obtained eternal
life for you that believe Him. for you that have no other righteousness,
but trust his righteousness alone. This same Jesus, who is the hope
and the high priest of his people, says, Father, the hour is come. The hour is come. This salvation
was determined before the foundation of the world. And here it is,
the hour. I once heard someone describing
time as really being nothing more than a recording of events. That really is what time is.
Well, then this time is the most important, most critical juncture
in all of human history, the crucifixion. of Christ and His
resurrection. This is the most critical, important
time, and I would say, then when He returns, and then the third
most is when God said, let there be light, would be the third
most important time. That is when God declared His
gracious will and purpose to save a people. And He said to
who saved his people. And he's returning again to save
his people, to claim them and bring them to himself. That's
time, right there. That's all you need to know is
what Christ has done. He said, Father, the hour is
come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. And so we see and understand
this glorious salvation, that's a beautiful, amazing thing that
you should hear those words and understand what Christ means
when he prays that the Father glorify Him. We know this because
the gospel has been preached to us. And we understand that
good news. We hear it as good news. We believe
it. We receive it and believe it
as good news unto us who are sinners, who have no righteousness
of our own, to know God has provided righteousness. God has provided
himself, the Lamb, to put away my sins, to deliver me from death,
to deliver me from the curse of death that I might know and
worship and rejoice in the true and living God and glorify his
salvation our Lord tells us the way of salvation. He makes known
to his people the way of salvation, and the Father glorifies the
Son in our hearts. Even now, raising him up in our
hearts, whereby we behold this is the Christ. This is the salvation
of God. And it's because he's given us
his spirit who manifests this life of Christ in us, who manifests
this faith that looks away from self, that looks to the servant
of God, who laid down his life and obtained the keys of heaven
and hell, who obtained the keys of life and death, that we might
know him in spirit and in truth. in a heart that believes and
a mouth that confesses that Christ is all. So you see that Christ
is much more than what the world sees him as. We see and know
him that he's much more than just a signpost that tells us
how to please God and how to know God. He's much more than
a signpost. He's much more than an example.
He tells us that he is our very salvation. He is the way of life. Thomas, we'll turn over to John
14. John 14, verses 5 and 6, Thomas is listening to Christ
speak of himself going to the Father. And he says, you know
the way. You know the way to the Father. And Thomas asks what
will be on all our hearts Lord, we know not whither thou goeth.
How do we know where you're going when you say you're going away?
How do we know, and how can we know the way? How do we know
the way if we don't even know where you're going? Well, Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man
cometh to the Father but by me. And that is the revelation of
the mystery of God made known unto you that the way to the
Father is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He is the way. He's
not a signpost. He's not pointing us to the way.
He himself is the very salvation of God. Believe the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the righteousness of God
provided for sinners. who cannot save themselves. And there's not a one of us that
can save ourselves. Christ did it all. And the Father
receives all who come to him. In the simplicity of faith, having
nothing in our hands, having nothing to recommend us to God
in ourselves, but having everything promised and given to us by Christ,
trust him, believe him, You shall never be turned away. You will
not be ashamed before the throne of God, standing in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come in your own works, and you
shall go away weeping and crying out, sad and confused and ashamed. But in Christ, you'll be received. That's the promise of God. And
this is why Christ is so precious to us, why he's glorified in
our hearts by the Spirit, which is the very purpose of God, that
we should, he should be glorified in our hearts. Turn over to Philippians
2. Philippians chapter 2. We'll
look at verses 5 through 11 here. Paul tells us in verse 5, he
says, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. What mind? What mind are we to
have which was also in Christ Jesus? He's speaking about the
mind of humility, one that is humbled before the true and living
God. One who hears what the Lord says
when he says to us, you cannot save yourselves. You cannot work
a righteousness by yourselves, and you are sinners. You are
sinners under the curse of the law. You are sinners under the
curse of God. You, by nature, are children
of disobedience, and thereby children of wrath, and have come
under the condemnation of the wicked, fallen in Adam, who have
no righteousness of their own. But God says, look to my son,
believe him. And a humble mind, one that is
humble before God, saying, yes, Lord, your word is true. I am the sinner. I have no righteousness
of my own. Lord, have mercy on me. Save
me. That's a humble mind. That's
the mind of Christ who humbled himself in obedience to the Father. Look at verse six. Who, being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God. This is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, but made himself
of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and
was made in the likeness of men. and being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross." And so that mind of Christ, which
is given to you by the Spirit of God, who raises you from the
dead in Christ, gives you spiritual life, that mind comes before
God, bowing before God, saying, Lord, I have no righteousness. but the righteousness which you've
given him, your son. I cannot save myself. I cannot
deliver myself. Lord, I hear what you're saying,
and I believe you. I believe you, and I believe
you in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my hope. He's my
hope. He gave his life, a ransom for
my soul. Lord, receive me. Save me in
the blood of Christ. Wherefore, God also hath highly
exalted him. So we see that humility and that
exaltation. The humiliation of Christ and
the exaltation of Christ. God hath highly exalted him and
given him a name which is above every name. that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things
in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father. And so the Son is glorified,
and the Father is glorified, and He authored this whole salvation.
We glory in Him. We glory in our God. There is no salvation, no other
salvation, but the Lord Jesus Christ. Look to Him. He alone
has the keys of life and death. He's the one who delivers his
people from the grave. He's the one who delivers us
from the plague of sin and by him we live. Now look back in
John 17 verse 2. He says, as thou hast given Him,
speaking of Himself, the Son of Man, as thou hast given Him
power over all flesh, that He should give life, that He should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. Now, as the Son of God, this
is a redundant thing to say in a sense. So what does he mean?
Why does Christ pray this? If he's God, doesn't he already
have these things? Indeed he does. But here, when
you see scriptures that speak of Christ as a man, Because those
who would try to destroy Christ and His glory in your hearts,
they say, well, He's a man here. He's not God. He's a man. No,
He's speaking here in the office of the mediator. He is the eternal
Son of God. He is divine, having no beginning,
no end. But every time you see words
that describe Him as a man, it's describing Him in His office
as the mediator. The mediator. And so as the risen
Christ, who mediates between God and men, chosen men of his
grace, as the risen Christ who ascended to the right hand of
the throne of God, he's now in session, ruling and reigning,
opening the seals of the book, implementing the will and purpose
of God in the earth, doing as he pleases. which is a comfort
to me. When you see things in the world
that frighten you and terrify the flesh, we know Christ has
everything in control. Everything is in his hand and
he's in perfect control of all things in heaven and in earth. Listen to the testimony of scripture
concerning his power. He came to his disciples, the
risen Lord and Savior comes to his disciples in Matthew 28,
18 saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth.
Right now, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
And he spake of this. He told them of this back in
Matthew 11, verse 27, saying, all things are delivered unto
me of my father. And no man knoweth the son but
the father. Neither knoweth any man the father
save the son. And he to whomsoever the son
will reveal him. How do we know this? Because
Christ has made good on his word. And the reason you know it and
the reason why you believe is because he's made good on his
word in your own heart, in your life, in your mind, to know the
will and purpose of God, to believe that will and purpose, to rest
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his power, making good
all his promises to his children. It's given to you. believe. It's
given to you to know these things, to hear them, not in parables,
but as they are the Word of God come to you in power and in glory
and in great might. So God hath put all things under
his feet so that the head of every man is Christ." Now turn
over to Ephesians 1. Let's go to Ephesians 1 and we'll
look at verse 10 and 11. Ephesians 1 tells us here, verse
10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he
might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also
we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. Drop down to verse 20, Ephesians
1.20, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead,
and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all principality and power and might and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come. and hath put all things under
his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the
church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all. And so right now, Jesus is the
king. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
king, and we preach him because that's how God speaks to us.
He speaks unto us by his son. He says in Hebrews 1, He now
speaks to us by His Son. And we know the true and living
God and believe God through His Son. And He's appointed Him heir
of all things. So brethren, in Christ we have
everything, everything we need. And apart from Christ, we have
nothing. In Christ is all. Apart from Him, there's nothing.
Now returning to John 17, verse 3. Our Lord says, he prays, this
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. This here is, it's as simple
as it is, this is the mystery of God revealed. This is salvation. It's not in our doing. It's not
in our works. It's not what we do or don't
do that determines our salvation. It's not even our decision. Even
our faith is the gift of God. Even our faith was given to us,
whereby we believe the Lord Jesus Christ. This mystery of God makes
known to you who are dead in trespasses and sins that we,
who have nothing to boast of before God, are now sons and
daughters of the Most High. by the faithfulness and the obedience
of the Lord Jesus Christ to his father who came and fulfilled
all righteousness and obtained eternal life by the death of
himself and his resurrection by the power and glory of God
to declare him. And so we're made alive because
we were marked by that blood of Christ. When Christ died,
we died. When he rose, we rose with him. And we were marked with that
blood so that being lost sinners in ourselves by nature, the spirit
of God was poured out. And through the preaching of
the gospel, we were found. We were found and given life
and delivered from that bondage of death. Now this glorious salvation
is what is contained in the following words in verse four. John 17
verse 4 I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. How did Christ glorify
the Father? In obeying Him perfectly. He
only spoke what the Father told Him to say. He only did the works
that the Father sent Him to do. He obeyed the Father perfectly,
demonstrating His love for the Father. He demonstrated His love
in the obedience He gave to the Father's will. Christ confirmed
this to us many times. Many times. Look over in John
4. Go to John 4, verse 34. Jesus saith unto them, my meat,
my food, my nourishment is to do the will of him that sent
me and to finish his work. Look over now at John 8, John
8 29. And he that sent me is with me,
the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things
that please him. And so Christ obeyed the Father,
fulfilled all righteousness perfectly in obedience to the Father. And
so his work that he was sent to do was being accomplished
and nothing, nothing, nothing was going to stop him. It was
all set in motion. It was all set in motion, and
nothing would stop it. And he would soon be taken, according
to the determinate will and counsel of God. He would be taken by
men with wicked hearts, wicked minds, wicked hands, who would
take and crucify the Lord of glory, thinking to have put him
to death and to destroy his work. But not at all. In that very
thing, he crushed the head of the serpent and delivered his
people from death, all according to the scriptures. Now in closing
I want to give you three simple things for you to hold on to
your mind concerning the work of Christ, the glory of Christ
and what he accomplished in his coming as the Christ to the glory
of the Father and for our everlasting good. First, Christ was sent. The reason why he came was he
was sent to fulfill all righteousness. That's why he came. In Romans
3, verse 21. Let's go there. Romans 3, verse
21 and 22. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested. You see, God in the scriptures
over and over is showing us you're not saving yourself. It's not
by works of righteousness. You cannot save yourself. There's
not a law given whereby you can cleanse the stain of your sin. The righteousness of God without
the Law is manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the
Prophets. The Scriptures have concluded
all under sin. We need a Savior, and God Himself
has provided the Savior, Jesus Christ. God himself provided
the righteousness that alone saves us. And that righteousness
is being declared to us through the preaching of the gospel according
to the scriptures that it's in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ, by the faithfulness of Jesus
Christ in which you believe, unto all and upon all them that
believe, for there is no difference. So that Christ alone, he is the
Savior of all the world, meaning he alone is the one salvation
of God for Jew and Gentile alike. Now turn over to Romans 5.9.
Romans 5.9. Much more than being now justified
by Christ's blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. So that those who refuse the
righteousness of God and press on in their own works, and press
on under the law, and press on in their dead religion, they
shall meet an angry God. But you who come to him in the
righteousness of Christ, trusting Him alone, you shall find God
welcoming, peace, rest for your souls in Christ. Turn over to
Romans 10 verse 4. For Christ and Christ alone is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe. And so the first thing to remember
is that Christ was sent for this purpose. That's why he came to
fulfill all righteousness for his people. That's why he came.
Christ came to defeat all the enemies of God and his people
so that everything that stood between us and God, everything
that prevented us from being reconciled to God, was removed
by Christ. He defeated every enemy and he
put in its place redemption, eternal redemption by himself. Our Lord says in John 12 verse
31, now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of
this world be cast out. When Christ died on the cross,
he died as the sin-bearing substitute for his people. to put away their
sin, to deliver us from the curse of the law, so that God is just
to forgive us and to receive us, because we are righteous.
There is no sin. It's been put away by Christ
Jesus himself. And so in this glorious act of
redemption, he crushed the serpent's head. You know, Michelle and
I, we were actually talking about it this morning even, we went
on a little hike in Wilson's Creek because it's not too far
and we like it obviously because I think I've made reference to
being there recently even but we were walking and we were going
along a path near the water near Wilson's Creek and my eye was
drawn to this pretty spot there was a little path that went right
down to the water side and there were some really neat rocks I
like them they were interesting shapes I don't know how they
got there they were kind of broken up and there was little little
cups in them just naturally formed little bowls that collected water
for the insects and bugs and I thought that was really neat
and I go down there and I'm hopping on these rocks and looking around
and I'm in motion stepping so my foot goes down and all of
a sudden I notice there's snakes there not one but multiple ones
I saw one moving and one stayed still And I caught my balance,
and I just moved back and started heading back. And I said, snakes.
And she moved back, and we went up and back out. And I didn't
know this, but I said, well, they weren't black, thinking
that moccasins were black. She said, no, they're gray. I
said, oh, that's exactly what they were. They were gray snakes
with that diamond-shaped thing. And she pulled it up on her phone
and said, see? And I said, yep, that's what
they were. They were just little guys, like mid-sized guys, probably
yay long. And it still bothers me because
we hate the serpent. There's something about us that
just despises the serpent. Well, Christ put his foot down
on the head of the serpent and crushed him. Crushed him. I don't
know what's going on here. But he crushed the serpent. and
saved us, delivered us from our enemy, delivering us from the
bondage that he had us under, laboring, thinking we could work
a righteousness, striving, fearful, afraid, worried, doubting. Christ
put it all away. by the death of himself. He crushed
it with his foot. Amen. Death is swallowed up in
victory. And Paul tells us that we may
now say, oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is
thy victory? In all these things, we are more
than conquerors through Christ that loved us. Christ conquered
all our foes. That's the second thing. I'm going to turn this off. There
we go. Third, Christ really did redeem and save all the elect. None shall be lost. All for whom
Christ came and gave his life and shed his blood, you that
have no other hope. I know that we look to ourselves
and we see in ourselves sin. We see in ourselves things that
say to us, you're no child of God. Child of God could never
do that. They could never think that.
They would never say that. Sadly, we do. Sadly, we do. We are reminded
from time to time. We see just how far we could
sink. And if God permitted it, we would
sink further. But by His grace, we are kept.
But none shall be lost. Your works, your sins can never
undo what Christ has done. You that hope in him, you that
are turned and delivered from trusting your works and from
going on, the Lord saves you. He turns the heart of his child.
He keeps us in and ever looking to the Lord Jesus Christ so that
we are delivered. You shall never be lost. You
shall never be prevented or kept or turned away from Christ. You have his spirit. He's given
you that knowledge and understanding that all those in Christ have,
that He is my Savior. He is my righteousness. He has
delivered me and put away my sin. That's the promise of God.
Lord, keep me. Turn me from dead things. Don't
ever let me fall away. Lord, keep me. He's the one who
burdens us and keeps us walking by faith in the Spirit. Peter says in 1 Peter 1, 18 through
20, For as much as ye were not redeemed with corruptible things
as silver and gold from your vain conversation, received by
tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you. You know, some
would say that this is simple. that this gospel is just so simple. Why do you always tell us about
Christ and what he's done? Because that is our salvation.
That's our hope. That's what the Spirit of God
gives us and what he tells us to feed upon. Christ is the bread
of heaven. That's why we preach him, because
we're feeding upon him. He is our righteousness. He's
our hope. And we need to hear it. We need
to hear it. And I know that because to this
day there's still so many following and trying to work a righteousness
by the law. Now today, because it's Easter
as I understand it, but today, there's probably many that are
setting out food for the sheep and trying to draw in many with
sheep food and telling them what Christ has done. But next week,
they're just going to switch it out with the goat food. And
they're just going to start preaching to them works that they need
to do to save themselves and to keep themselves saved. We
need the sheep food. We need to be reminded of what
Christ himself has done for us, because there's many who have
not yet heard who were yet trusting in dead works that cannot save,
and thinking themselves to be righteous in it. But Christ finished
the work that the Father sent Him to do. He did it. He accomplished
the redemption of His people. So remember that, brethren. Christ
was sent to fulfill all righteousness. He came and He conquered all
our foes. And He really did redeem. He
really did purchase His people. And you that believe Him, have
no other righteousness of your own that hope in him alone you
have the gift of eternal life you believe because he has given
you salvation and given and regenerated you from the dead to believe
him because Christ has made good on all his word of promise spoken
unto us through these witnesses we thank God for and All right, let's go to the Lord
in prayer, and then we'll be dismissed with a hymn. Our gracious
Lord, we thank you for this glorious salvation, for the nourishment
of the bread of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, that you've accomplished
everything, that you've defeated all our foes, that you deliver
us from the things of death that cannot save. And Lord, how many
times we see how sufficient your grace is, how often we've been
turned from death and turned from the hardness of heart and
turned from sin and things that corrupt and defile and destroy,
and how you always turn us again and deliver us and keep us, Lord,
and bless us again and again through the preaching of the
gospel. Lord, we thank you for this. We thank you for our brethren.
We thank you for the hope that you've given to your people in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, bless this hour. Bless
this word to our hearts. Bless us this day to rest and
rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray and
give thanks. Amen. I wonder if that's what happened.
I think it got loose, honestly. Yeah, we'll check it again, but
it was just loose. Our closing hymn will be from
your handout, How Deep the Father's Love for Us. Deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure, That He should give His only
Son. to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing
loss the father turns his face away as wounds which mar the
chosen one brings many sons to glory. Behold the man upon a
cross. My sin upon his shoulders, ashamed
I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held him there
until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought
me life. I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything. No gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ. His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom. Thank you.