Alright, brethren, we're going
to be in Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4, verses
1 through 7. Our title is Standing, Rejoicing,
Kept. Standing, Rejoicing, Kept. Alright,
so let's begin looking at our standing in Christ. And this will be the longest
point. Now, Philippians 4.1, he writes, And Paul's use of
the word therefore here, it's because of what he had just finished
saying in the previous chapter as we
have them. And so what he says is it's in
light of our Savior's return. He's just been speaking about
Christ when he returns that he shall change our vile body that
it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. And so because
of the promise of Christ's return, and because of our inheritance
in Christ, he tells these brethren that are very dear to him, so
stand fast in the Lord. The Lord's coming again, he's
returning soon, so stand fast. in the Lord. So let's look at
five ways, let's look at five ways in which we stand fast in
the Lord. Alright, the first one, to stand
fast in the Lord is to stand fast in his gospel. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 15
1. Let's look at a couple of scriptures with these. 1 Corinthians
15 1. He says to the brethren there,
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand. So what he's saying there is
we stand in this gospel of Jesus Christ. And we stand in this
gospel not because we were born into it, not because we've looked
at all the religions and have a preference for the Christian
faith as opposed to the Catholic faith or the Mormons or the Muslims
or Buddhism or something like that. No, God's revealed to us
Christ and what he's accomplished for us. He's revealed to us the
gospel and therefore we stand in this gospel. And the reason
is that there's not salvation in any other. The apostles said,
for neither is there salvation in any other, or there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. So that's our first point, we
stand in the gospel. Next, to stand in the gospel
is to stand fast in his doctrine, Christ's doctrine. Turn over
to 1 Timothy 4, verse 16. 1 Timothy 4, verse 16. All right, here he says to Timothy,
take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continue in them,
right? Stand in them, continue in the
doctrine of Christ, for in doing this, thou shalt both save thyself
and them that hear thee. So we stand in the doctrine of
Jesus Christ because we understand he is our righteousness. Again, this isn't a preference.
He is our very righteousness. And so our entrance into the
presence of holy God, our entrance is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we stand in his doctrine.
We understand that he's the reason why we are able to approach unto
the living God. Remember what Paul said in Philippians
3. He said, for we are the circumcision
which worship God in the Spirit. That's doctrinal. We understand
that we have the Spirit of Christ whereby we know these truths
and stand in these truths and we therefore rejoice because
we're made alive and made to know what Christ has done. We
rejoice in Christ Jesus and he's taught us we have no confidence
in the flesh. He showed us that It's not in
our works. It's not by something we do that
we are saved and accepted with God. We're saved because of what
Christ, our Lord and Savior, has done for us. So we stand
in these doctrinal truths. And so it's, again, not our works,
but it's Christ in you, the hope of glory. And we stand in Christ
trusting his work alone, not looking to add our works, not
looking to supplement what he's done because we're not so sure
and we think that there's something for us to do. We stand in his
doctrine alone. Again, in Philippians 3.9, It's
what moved Paul to state plainly that his desire was to be found
in Christ, not having his own righteousness which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. For that reason, we stand in
the doctrine of Christ. We're standing there, we're not
being moved off of it. All right, so let's look at the
third one. To stand fast in the Lord is to stand fast in the
liberty, right, the liberty, rather than, in the liberty of
Christ, rather than the law's bondage. We don't want to go
back under the law's bondage. We're standing in the liberty
that we have in Christ. Look over in Galatians 2. Galatians
2, and we'll look at verses 3 through 5. There's always, throughout all
the church age there, there's always some that cannot rest
in Christ alone. Throughout all the age of the
church, the Old Testament and New, there are always many that
can't rest in Christ. They don't look to Christ the
Savior. Instead, they bring in something for the flesh to do,
and the majority of the time it's been the law. They bring
in the law, plus Christ, to try and come to God. And they did
that even in the Apostles' Day, and that's what Paul is writing
of here in Galatians 2.3. He said, But neither Titus, who
was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
And that because of false brethren, unawares, brought in who came
in privily, or secretly, or in addition to true brethren, these
others came in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ
Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. And now here
Paul declares our stance. This is where we stand in Christ.
To whom we gave place by subjection, know not for an hour that the
truth of the gospel might continue in you. And you think about that. The clarity that we have that
Christ is all our salvation. is owing to this fact that the
Spirit so empowered and strengthened Paul to stand firm in the Gospel,
that that's why we see the clarity of our standing in Christ so
clearly now in the epistles that he wrote to the churches. Because
he was revealed, these things were shown to him by revelations
that he knew and stood firm in the Lord Jesus Christ that way,
and that's such a merciful thing. Look down there in Galatians
2 in verse 11. Verse 11, here's an example. But when Peter, Peter an apostle
who was preeminent among the apostles and walked with Christ,
it says, when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to
the face because he was to be blamed. For before that certain
came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were
come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were
of the circumcision. and the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away
with their dissimulation." Could you imagine being a Gentile there,
and suddenly you see Peter stop seating with you, and then Barnabas
and all the other Jews, they're separating themselves and hanging
out with these other guys from Jerusalem, from James, and they're
not really talking much to you? how much that would hurt to see
that and to witness that and it would be very hurtful to you
as a Gentile believer. But when I saw that they walked
not uprightly, verse 14, according to the truth of the gospel, I
said unto Peter before them all, if thou being a Jew livest after
the manner of Gentiles and not as do the Jews, why compelst
thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews
by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, in other words,
we know that the law leads to bondage. We've been in it. We
saw it. We were under that bondage, and we know that we can't keep
the truth of the gospel by the law. Knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, his faithfulness, even we have believed in Jesus Christ
that we might be justified by the faith, the faithful work
of Christ, what he did and not by the works of the law, for
by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. So therefore
we stand fast, we're to stand fast in the liberty we have in
the Lord Jesus Christ and not put our necks under that bondage
of the law because then the truth isn't going to continue with
us and it's not going to continue for our children. We're standing
fast in this stance lest we should just go the way of so many other
churches where the candlestick has been snuffed out because
they don't preach the gospel anymore. All right, so to stand
fast in the Lord is to stand fast in his provision that he
made for us spiritually. All right, turn over to Ephesians
6. Ephesians 6, 13. And here Paul says in verse 13,
wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand.
So he's saying we're to make use of the provisions which Christ
has given to us, what he's provided for us in his death, in his life. And he calls it the whole armor
of God. So that in this armor, right,
just like a military that are in their armor. They stand. It's
meant so they can stand firm and not be driven backward. They're
there to stand firm for the truth of the gospel. We're marching
to Zion, the beautiful city of God. We're an army marching under
the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we're to make use
of the provision which he's provided for us to stand against the evil
day. He says there in verse 14, here's
the armor, he says, stand therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth. We know the gospel of Jesus Christ,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. First Corinthians 15 three says
that. So that we understand according
to the scriptures, according to this gospel, that all men,
including myself, as religious as we may be, we're all sinners,
unable to work a righteousness for ourselves. We die in Adam,
and even if you don't believe that, all you have to do is look
at yourself, and what a sinner we are every day, in our hearts,
in our thoughts, in our minds, in the things that we do or don't
do. We're sinners, unable to save ourselves. We know by this
gospel that that's why Christ came, that he is righteousness. He fulfilled all righteousness
for his people and he takes his people unto himself so that he
carries us up there in the crossing in his own body with our sins
laid upon him and he fulfilled all righteousness, and he drank
the cup of our wrath dry, and he bore that fiery judgment,
he was baptized in the fiery judgment of holy God in our place,
taking our place that we might know him, that we would have
an entrance into holy God for all eternity. He did that work
for us. We know that by the gospel and
we understand that when he rose from the grave, that meant God
accepted his sacrifice so that we who believe in him would have
hope. and be glad and rejoice, knowing
that as Christ was raised from the dead, so he has promised
that I shall be raised from the dead in him. And when he returns
for us, we shall be transformed, made like unto him as he is."
Because we're gonna see him as he is. So we see that and we
understand that and we know that, brethren. So, all right, let's
look at this next one here. And having on the breastplate
of righteousness, we understand that Christ is our righteousness.
It's not our righteousness. It doesn't become something that
we do to take over, to carry on the righteousness. It's always
in Christ. He's always our righteousness.
And it's made ours. It's made ours, but not by our
works. It's always Christ's righteousness.
Verse 15, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace. And again, that's where you see
that army of believers marching under the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We have peace with God and that's
our hope. And so we carry that message
forward, that ministry of reconciliation which we've been given and shown
that Christ reconciled us to God, that's our message. that
through Christ we are reconciled to holy God. He is our peace,
right? For there's one mediator between
God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. He's our mediator. He
created peace between us. And then he says, verse 16, above
all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. That faith that we
have is that faith which is given to us by God. It was obtained
by Christ and given to us by Christ, whereby we lay hold of,
we enter into what Christ has done and accomplished for us. We believe it by faith. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And all who confess
that Christ is all to them, they'll be hated in this world, they'll
be mocked in this world, they'll suffer persecution to some degree,
they'll suffer various afflictions and sorrows and trials in doing
it. You think about it when you're
in a certain situation, there's times when you close your mouth
and you don't want to say what you believe because you understand
if I open my mouth here, I'm going to feel the fire of affliction
in that. I'm going to be mocked. Sadly,
that causes us to close our mouth a lot of times. There's other
times where we open our mouth, but we're surprised to see that
there's actually somebody there that's interested, that says,
huh. Even if they don't say it right
away, but eventually they take note. They take notice, just
like they took notice of the apostles, that they had been
with Christ. and they see that and they may
come back at some point and ask you about it. So just trust the
Lord. All right. So therefore, he says,
take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit,
which is the word of God. And that sword, that word of
God that we're to know and read and pray about, that the Lord
will put in our hearts, that's how we thrust back at the enemy. When he's attacking us and bringing
woe and sorrow and trouble of mind and heart, that's how we
thrust back is with that word of the Lord. And then finally,
praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit
and watching thereunto with perseverance and supplication for all saints. And that's just as you're going
throughout the day, when you're driving, to work or home or doing
something on the job or wherever you are, when the Lord brings
to your mind your brethren and you think of them and you just
lift up a prayer thinking of them because you know you need
it and then you know they need it too. And so we're praying
always that the Lord's will will be done in and among our brethren
even as we're trusting and hoping that he works his will in us
and uses us in the gospel. And that's the whole armor of
God. That's the whole provision that Christ has provided for
you, standing in the gospel with that provision that he's given
to you. And then finally, let me just say, he says that to
stand fast in the Lord is to stand fast in his power, standing
in his strength and his power. Turn over to Jude, right before
Revelation, Jude 24. which is one chapter, so verse
24. And he says, they are now unto
him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you
faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. So if he's keeping you from falling,
that means he's keeping you standing, standing by his power, his truth,
not your own goodness, but by the power and the strength of
the Lord Jesus Christ. So rejoicing that. So because
of our glorious standing in Christ, and what Christ has accomplished
for us, right? And he turns our eyes upon him. When our eyes are upon him, we
do stand, and we stand firm in these truths. It's only when
our eyes are taken off Christ and they're turned back to this
world that that's when we get overwhelmed, and that's where
the offenses come, and that's where the anger comes, and the
fighting comes, and things of that nature, right? That's when
we feel insults and we don't like to let those insults go.
That's where it hurts us. Let's look there back in our
text, Philippians 4, 1-3, and this is why I'm saying that.
He says, Therefore my brethren dearly beloved and longed for,
my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
So these are dear brethren to him. everyone he's writing to. And then he speaks about something
that's come to his attention. And think about it. There's some
infighting between some of the dear women there that he loves,
that have labored with him, and it's gotten to the Apostle's
attention. How embarrassing is that? I remember in business, we didn't
want things to get up to our VP. We didn't want our VP to
know about it. We wanted to take care of these
things. even below the director level. And so this is now making
it all the way up to an apostle. Paul, who's in prison, and now
he's troubled with this news, and it says, verse 2, Philippians
4, 2, I beseech Jodeas and beseech Syntyche that they be of the
same mind in the Lord. Now, what these two ladies were
disagreeing about, it isn't even said, and Paul clearly isn't
even interested in what what the disagreement is about, but
he wants them both to turn to the Lord, and to look to Him,
and to rest and rejoice in what Christ has done, and he tells
them to be of the same mind in the Lord. So, we've seen that,
right? He's written that several times
in this very book, in this letter, in chapter 2, Philippians 2,
look over there, Would it be of the same mind in the Lord? And so we'll review Philippians
2 verses 1 through 8 again. And he's appealing to the new
man of Christ in us. And it says, if there be therefore
any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Christ be in you,
he's saying, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having
the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, let nothing be done
through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let
each esteem other better than themselves. And so he's turning
their eyes back up to Christ, because it's when our eyes are
set on this world, that's when we begin to look at our rights
and what you know, what we're owed and what should be done
for us. And that's where you have two parties, and each one
saying, I'm not going to yield. Let them yield to me. I'm not
going to yield to them. And what they're saying is, I'm
better than them. I'm the better one, so I'm in the right. Let
them yield to me. And that's why it's peculiar
that Paul doesn't mention, he doesn't take sides at all. He's
just saying, be of one mind. in the Lord, let love rule. And so he says, look not every
man on his own things, not meaning to be a busybody and to get in
people's business, but every man also on the things of others.
And he says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus. In other words, Christ took up
the burden for us. to bear our burden. And that's
what he's trying to say. We're bearing the burden of one
another. We're close with one another.
There's going to be times where we're bearing a burden and long-suffering
with one another. It's going to happen. And he
says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, 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 could
you imagine if Christ had decided, you know what, I'm gonna wait
for man, Because man's in the wrong, not Christ. He's done
nothing wrong. He's done nothing to deserve
our hatred. And if he said, I'm going to wait for man to come
to me and ask for help, we'd all be in hell. We'd be suffering
and paying the price for our own sins. We would get nowhere.
He took the wrong against himself. Even though he's right and just
and perfect in all his ways, he came and he bared that burden
for us who are in the wrong. We're the sinners. We're the
ones who are the offenders and the rebels and the haters. We
were the ones who speak evil against them all the time in
nature. And so he says then, verse 3, Philippians 4, 3, And
I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow, help those women which labored
with me in the gospel. It sounds like he's talking to
the leaders, the pastors probably, the elders among the church to
say, help them, like encourage then to remind them of these
things so that their minds are set on Christ and the gospel,
because they labored with him in the gospel. They're part of
that body there. They're contributing positively
with the gifts that God has given them, but they're not of one
mind there. There's still a tension there
between them. And he says, and they helped with Clement also,
and with other my fellow laborers whose names are, and remember
this, whose names are in the book of life. Right? And so Paul's seeking unity in
the church. And he's not saying that they're
not saved. He's not trashing them or anything
like that. He's actually reminding them, your names, both your names
are in the book of life. Help them. Don't be angry and hurt them or hurt the situation,
but our names are written in the Book of Life. And I like
what he said in another epistle in 2 Corinthians 2.11. He said,
lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we're not ignorant
of his devices. We're not ignorant of his devices.
And what he's saying is That evil one is a murderer, and he's
wicked, and we don't want to be part of doing his devices,
bringing his ways into the situation. Because he's a divider, he's
a hater, he's a murderer, he's a liar, and so why should we... We're not ignorant of what he
does, so let us not partake in that, even if we have to suffer
the wrong. Even if we're right, just like Christ is in the right,
it's better to bear the burden and to pray about it, and continue
praying about it, that the Lord would work his will through it,
lest we devour one another and bite one another. Turn to Colossians
3. Colossians 3.12. This will be
the last verse on it. Colossians 3.12-15. He words, obviously he brought
this up often to all the churches and he says there in Colossians
3.12, put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another.
If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye. And above all these things put
on charity, or love, which is the bond of perfectness, and
let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also
ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Because being
thankful, it helps against any pain or sorrow that we feel when
we turn to the Lord and be thankful to Him. Now this brings us to
our next point, rejoicing in Christ. Paul says in Philippians
4, 4, to rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. And he's saying it doesn't matter
your pain or sorrow or trouble, we can always rejoice in the
Lord Jesus Christ. We should always be thinking
of what he accomplished for us and we can rejoice in his grace
because he saved us by grace. He didn't require of us to do
some work first. He saved us entirely by his grace. We can rejoice in his righteousness
because it's his righteousness. He worked that righteousness
and made us the very righteousness of God in him. We rejoice in
his blood, which washes us from all sin and iniquity. We are
cleansed from the guilt and the shame of sin to stand before
God who is holy and perfect. We rejoice in his love, which
never fails for us. And we rejoice in his providence,
knowing that he works all things together for our good we can
rejoice in those things and what he's doing among us and not the
least of which we can rejoice that our names are like Jodeas
and Syntheci, our names are written in the Book of Life. They're
written in heaven. And it reminds me of what Christ said over in
Luke 10, verses 20 and 21. At that time, the disciples,
they came back. This is after they had been given
some powers of the Lord, and they were casting out unclean
spirits, casting demons out of people, healing people of their
sicknesses and their diseases. And in Luke 10 verse 20, Christ
said, notwithstanding in this, in this power that you have,
rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rejoice
rather, or rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. And then he says that same hour,
verse 21, in that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed
them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. So we see there, rejoice, that
you've been sovereignly chosen and elected of God to hear this
gospel. and to receive this gospel, and
to believe the gospel, and made to rest in this gospel, knowing
that it's not by our works, it's not because of anything we did,
good or bad, but because of His sovereign good pleasure. Rejoice. That's something to rejoice in,
that you love the Lord. Because that's not of the flesh.
That's grace there. And so we can rejoice that our
names are written in heaven. Because that's a blessed thing
that very few know or speak of or understand. All right, so
because of this glorious thought of salvation, he says in verse
five, let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord
is at hand. And so what he's saying there
is let others know in a sense of,
not in a boastful sense, but be gracious and understanding
and patient and forbearing and loving to all men, both in the
church and outside the church, because it's a testimony to what
God has done in your heart. You're bearing witness to what
he's worked in your heart already. Our Lord said in John 13, 34
through 35, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love
one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
By this all men shall know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another. And so we do that. It helps us
to seek the best and to think the best in others. And even
if we're being misused and mistreated in that and thought to be fools,
you can pray to God who is sovereign and controls all things for him
to work it out, even if you are suffering the wrong. You can
trust that you're doing it. Trust me that, Lord, whatever
I say, when I put my hand to it, I make it worse. I wreck
it. I insult somebody. I actually
make it worse. Lord, help me just to close my
mouth and just take the wrong and just trust you to work it
out because I know if I keep pushing, I'm just going to anger
or intensify the problem there. And then he says, the Lord is
at hand. And when he's saying the Lord
is at hand, there's actually three meanings. I didn't even
think about the other two, so I'll give them to you, and then
I'll show you the last one that I think of still. But there's
a few possible meanings, and all of them are true. The Lord
is at hand, meaning that he's near. He'll help you. He'll give
you His grace. He'll help you through it and
strengthen you in this work. And then the Lord is at hand,
meaning that He observes and conducts our conduct. He knows what's in our heart.
Think about it. Remember, He's near at hand. He knows what's
in our heart. And so we should seek to have
a good and pure heart about these things. And then the Lord is
at hand, meaning that He's coming soon to judge this world. Why
get upset and worried about these things? He's near at hand. Well, we're nearer now than when
we first began this message even. We're nearer now to his return
and his coming again. So let's just adorn the doctrine
of grace which we believe. Let's just show that love that
he's put in our hearts for him and for one another. All right,
then in verse six he says, be careful for nothing but in everything
by prayer and supplication. And we always seem to forget
that. I know I do. My mouth is open already and
words are starting to come out and I say, you know what? I really
should have prayed about this before I say what I'm starting
to say. But he says, In everything, by
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. So we are to seek the Lord's
will in all things and remember to thank Him for it, to thank
Him for what is going on and what He's doing. I was reading
some of Henry Mahan, and I liked how he worded it, so I'll give
it to you. He said, I can never come to the throne for mercy,
except I already have mercies for which to be thankful. And that's true. And sometimes
we're cold and dead and hard in our heart, and we don't know
where to begin in our prayers. But when you really think about
what the Lord has done for you, and you just begin right there,
and you can't help but have a thankful heart, and then it flows from
there. Just remember what Christ has
done for you and start there, and it's a blessing. All right,
now, this is our last point here, and it's very short. Kept in
Christ. Kept in Christ. We saw standing
in Christ, rejoicing in Christ, kept in Christ. The other truth that we're thankful
for is that our keeping is in Christ. It's not by us. Thankfully, he's not looking
at what we're doing or not doing and how well we're doing it.
Thankfully, it's outside of us. It's all in the Lord's hands
and we can be very thankful. that it's all of his work and
of his kindness and goodness. And he says, verse 7, In other
words, our peace with God is found in, it rests in, it has
its start and its finish in the Lord
Jesus Christ for he is our peace Paul said to the Ephesians 2
4 and then in 2nd Corinthians 5 18 for all things are of God
who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given
to us the the word or the ministry of reconciliation so he's our
reconciliation he is our peace and let me just close with this
verse here in John 10, I'll read 27 through 30 there. And I understand
when we're bearing the burden with one another and we're just
thankful and rejoicing in Christ, the world says, I don't know
what you people are thinking. I don't know why you're not out
there trying to get all you can get and not be taken advantage
of by others. But Christ says, It's an understanding
of Christ that surpasses our natural understanding. And he
says in John 10 27, My sheep 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. My Father which gave them me,
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." And
the blessedness in that, I and my Father are one, that means
that they are in complete agreement about what Christ has accomplished
for you, brethren. They're in complete agreement.
There's no, they both understand and are satisfied that what Christ
has done for you It's settled, and nothing, you are kept by
Christ, and there's nothing going to take you away from Him. And
that's something to rejoice in and to be very thankful for,
that your keeping and my keeping, it's in Christ. So our standing
is in Christ, our rejoicing is in Christ, and our keeping is
in Christ. So I pray the Lord will bless
that to our hearts. All right, let's pray. Our gracious
Lord, we thank you, Father, for your mercy in sending your Son,
Jesus Christ. Set our hearts and our minds
and our thoughts on him. Help us to stand in our Lord
and in the whole armor of God, the provisions which Christ has
wrought for us. And Lord, help us, keep us thinking
of you and rejoicing what you've done, especially in that thought
that our names are written in heaven, and that we are kept,
not by our works, but by the work of our Savior and our Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. All right. So I went kind of long, so let's
come back at... Let's do... Do you want me to
do five after, or do you need a little bit more? Five after?
Let's do five after. I don't think so.