Father God, we are thankful that
we as sinners who have been covered in your righteousness through
your beloved Son can go to you in prayer. The majority of the
people in the world, Father, cannot go to you in prayers because
they're not your beloved children. only through those who have trusted
in Christ may come to you and that you might hear their prayers,
that everyone else's prayers are not heard. But by your grace,
you have brought us to life and you have adopted us into your
family that we might petition to you, Father, that we might
give you praise, that we might give you honor, that we might
give you thanks for all that you have done in our life and all that
you have done in our brothers and sisters' life and all that
you're going to continue to do in our life and throughout the
whole world, Father. I pray, Lord, that you would take me
a weak man today, and you would please, oh God, give me the grace
to preach your word, and as your word goes forth, Father, that
it would feed your sheep, that it would convert the lost, that
it would do all that you intended it to do, Father. We pray, Lord,
that it would not harden anyone's heart here today, Lord, but it
would soften everyone's heart, and Lord, they might bear fruit
from hearing your word today. And we ask this in no other name
but the King of kings, the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, amen. This letter here was written
by Paul and Timothy, but the thing is Paul did not plant this
church. Paul has never even seen most
of these people in this fellowship. A man by the name of Epaphras
planted this church and they believe he might have got saved
up under the preaching of Paul at Ephesus. And after God brought
him alive, he either went back to his hometown or he went to
Colossae and he started preaching the word of God. And as he preached
the word of God, God started saving people and started bringing
people together. And as he brought people together,
as always, Satan would creep in through the Judaizers Satan
would creep in through the Gentiles with their philosophy and try
to diminish Christ, try to make Christ more or less than what
He really is. They would try to say Christ
was not God in the flesh, that Christ was not the ruler of all
things, that Christ was not the Messiah, that He was not the
Savior, and well, they would try to entangle them back into
the law of Judaism. But we know Paul would write
this letter out of love for them. And it struck them to continue
on in the faith. It struck them not to fall prey
for the false teaching that was entering the church. That Christ,
as he would say in 15, that Christ is the image of the invisible
God. Meaning that Christ is the face
of God. That Christ was the word of God
that came flesh and dwelt among us. So Eurapus goes to Paul and
Paul in great love writes this letter to the church. And we'll
pick up in verse 3. And he says, we always thank
God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of times when Paul
writes these letters at the introduction, he would always, one, as we discovered
last week, may grace, mercy, and peace be from God the Father
through our Lord Jesus Christ. But then a lot of times he would
return thanks to God or let them know that he's constantly thanking
God for the work that he has done in their life. Hear that,
that Paul's thanking and returning thanks to God for the work that
God has done in their life. Because apart from God doing
a work in one's life, they can never come to the faith, they
can never have love for the brethren, and they can never have hope
laid up for them in heaven, which is Jesus Christ. Paul gives thanks
to God always for them. But not only should we always
be thanking God for the work He's doing in our life and through
the work of our beloved brothers and sisters' life, But throughout
scripture we see we should always be thanking God. We should be
always thanking God for the necessities He gives us to live this life.
I think in America sometimes because we live in a prosperity
land, the prosperity blinds us and really we forget to give
thanks to God for all the things that He had given us. A lot of
times when we come to God, it's not a thanksgiving. A lot of
times it's coming to God, asking him to do things for us, which
we should, but at the same time, are we really grateful for what
God has done? Are we just always treating him
like a genie in a bottle when we need something, we just go
to him, which we should, beloved, but at the same time, we should
always give him thanks to God for all that he's doing in our
life. I mean, think about how many times God has clothed us
in our life. Think about how many times God
has fed us. Think about how many times God has given us toothpaste
and toothbrush to brush our teeth. The very things that we take
for granted are necessities in other countries. That what we
would spend on a Coca-Cola is what other countries live off
of each day. but yet we become blind to these things. Even a
lot of times I thank you when we sit down and we say the blessing
and we give thanks God to the food that we're eating, are we
really giving thanks for it? Or are we just doing it out of
tradition? We're just doing it because that's what we're supposed
to do. But do we realize apart from
God, laying food out on our table, we cannot eat? A lot of times,
especially we as men, we think we put the food on the table. But really, we haven't put the
food on the table. God has put the food on the table. It isn't
that we got that job. No, God gave us that job that
we might supply bread for our family. It isn't that we had
the money to buy the house. No, God gave us the money to
buy that house. God gave us money for them vehicles.
God gave us money to meet all these extra necessities that
we need to live this life. But also, beloved, we should
always be returning thanks to God for our salvation. We should
be thankful every day that God has given us mercy, grace, and
peace in the Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of times I believe that
even slips our mind. That should be the focus of our
mind every day, returning thanks to God for saving us. Thanks
to God for sparing us. Thanks to God for not throwing
us in the lake of fire that's to come. A lot of times that
doesn't even cross our mind. Beloved, we could go, I could
go on and on about the things we should thank God for. We have
enough in this life. that God has given us to return
things. We could probably spend every day of our second, if we
really thought about all the things that God has given us,
we could spend every second of the day giving thanks to God
for what He's done. Hear that, beloved? It's just
like yesterday, Brooke finds out that one of her friends,
not one of her close friends, birthed a baby 34 weeks and it's
got Edward syndrome, so more than likely it won't live over
a year. And Brooke's question to me was, why has the Lord given
us healthy babies? Well, God's ways is not our ways. His ways are higher than our
ways, but oh, how we should be thanking God that we even have
healthy children. It's only by God's grace that I have healthy
boys. It's only by God's grace that
I'm healthy. It's only by God's grace that my wife is healthy. See, we could go on and on today
about what God, what we should be thankful for, but the main
context here is Paul is giving thanks to whom? The Father of
the Lord Jesus Christ. for what He has done in the church
at Colossae. But notice who He's giving thanks
to, the Father. You hear people say all the time,
I'm thankful. Well, who are you thankful, who are you giving
this thanks to? What is the object of your thanks? It must be the
Father. For all good things that come
down from heaven come from the Father. All the time when we
pray, we pray to the Holy Spirit, we pray to Jesus, but Jesus specifically
teaches us that we should pray to the Father in His name. So every time we go to God in
prayer, we go to the Father in the name of Christ, and Christ
is the Son of the beloved Father. Jesus is not just a Son of God,
but He's the Son of God. He's begotten of the Father.
He's the unique one. He was Emmanuel that became flesh. He was God with us. He was in
the bosom of the Father and no one's ever seen Him. And yet
the Father 2,000 years ago made Him known to us by revealing
His beloved Son to us that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father. We even see the Father saying
this in testimony of Matthew. In Matthew 3.16 it says, And
Jesus was baptized, and immediately when he came up from the water,
behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And
behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, whom
I am well pleased. Hear that. The Father gives testimony
that Jesus is his beloved Son. Who else has God ever called
His beloved son? Did He call Moses His beloved
son? No. Did He call Elijah His beloved
son? Did He call Abraham His beloved
son? No. He always referred to them
as His servants. They were His children. They
were not His beloved son. We even see that on the Mount
of Transfiguration. When Jesus takes John, Peter,
and James up there with him, and they see what? They see Moses,
and Elijah, and Gloria, and what they, Peter don't know what to
say, so he falls down, Lord, we should make tribute to y'all
three, and what, then what? They disappear, and they hear
a voice, this is my beloved son, listen to him. Hear that, that
Jesus is the beloved son of God. We even see Jesus give testimony
of himself that he's the beloved son. We know the famous verse
John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus looked and said,
look, I'm that son that the father has sent. And we know he just
isn't the son of the father, but he's one with the father,
that he is Lord and the king of kings, that the Father has
made him that. But we know he also is God. Why?
Because in Hebrews 1 it teaches us that the Father calls him
God. In Hebrews 1A, it says, but of the Son, he says, your
throne, O God, is forever and ever, descriptor of unrighteousness
and descriptor of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has
anointed you with oil and gladness beyond your companions. Hear
that, the Father speaking of his Son, calling him God. He
even tells all of his angels to worship him, Hebrews 1. And
people want to question, is Jesus God? Who else does the Father
call God unless He be God? But you know that's the very
reason why the Jews wanted to kill Jesus? Hear that? Jehovah's Witnesses, they missed
that. The Mormons missed that. The reason why the Jews of their
day wanted to kill Jesus because He took the title as the Son
of God. And they knew Abraham never took
that title. Elijah and all their prophets that they followed never
took that title. So they consider when Jesus said
that He's the Son of God and that He's doing the work that
His Father's doing in heaven, they consider that being blasphemy. They consider it being blasphemy
that He claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath. Where do we see
that? Well, in John 5.18 it says, And
this is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because
not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling
God his own Father, making himself equal with God. That's what Jesus
was doing. When he says, I'm the Son, he's
saying, look, I'm equal with my Father. That's when he says,
I am the good shepherd, that I am the light of the world,
that I am the bread that come down from heaven, that I am the
way, that I am the truth, that I am the life. He was taking
that I am title, which we heard when Moses asked, who should
I say who sent me? Tell them, I am sent you. It
was the titles that Jesus took, beloved. But man would want us
to think differently. But the reason why they cannot
see Jesus being the God of the universe that created all things,
because Satan has blinded them from seeing the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. But we see because God's done
blinded us to see that glorious truth. We worship Jesus as Lord
of all. King of all as the Alpha the
Omega the first and the last the beginning in the end We worship
as such because God has opened up our eyes to see that glorious
truth So hallelujah that Christ has given us the grace to see
that beloved because if he doesn't give us the grace see that we
can never see that never We always thank God the father of our Lord
Jesus Christ When we give when we pray for you. We always thank
God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you.
So Paul in them is giving thanks to the Father through the Lord
Jesus Christ when he prays for these people. When he prays for
them. And we know this wasn't uncommon
for Paul. Paul would pray for all the churches that he had
something to do with. And I believe even the churches
that might have come to be that Paul did not write that's according
to the New Testament letter, he would even be praying for
them. Notice Paul has never seen these people. He's just heard
about their faith. He's heard about their faith,
so Paul gives praise to God for saving these people. And we know
in the First Thessalonian church, he wasn't even with them that
long. But we know in First Thessalonians 1, 2, he says, we give thanks
to God always for you all constantly mentioning you in our prayers. A lot of times our prayers are
so consumed in our own life and what's going on that we forget
to pray for our brethren. Oh, how we should pray to God
and stir up our hearts to pray for each other. That we can actually
see each other. We see each other each and every
week. And God has called us to be in fellowship with each other
each and every week. How much more should we labor
in prayer for each other? How much should we be praying
for each other? That if we're not going to pray for each other,
the ones that we can see, how can we pray for the martyrs across
the world? who are the church. Sometimes we get so focused on
what we're doing at Grace Truth that we forget that there's other
bodies of Christ, there's other members of the body out there,
just besides here at Grace Truth. That Paul would pray for all
the churches that he was affiliated with. He would always be giving
thanks to God for all that God was doing. And think about this,
he would do it each and every day. He would constantly be thanking
God for what he had done for these people and for these people
and for these people and for these people. He would thank
God for the ones he has seen. He would thank God for what he
hasn't seen. And we know what Paul says at the end of this
letter about Rathus. He says, In Colossians 4.12, he said,
Meaning, this man is laboring, laboring in prayer for these people. Not
only giving thanks to God that God has saved them, but he's
laboring in prayer for them that God would continue to work in
them, that they might grow in Christ. Paul would even say that's the
reason why he suffers in the flesh, that he might present
the church holy and blameless through teaching them that they
might grow in maturity in Christ. Beloved, we should pray that
God would stir up our hearts to pray, through labor and prayer,
because prayer is not easy. It's not easy. I mean, how many
times do you get down to pray, or you sit on the couch to pray,
or you're laying in your bed to pray, or you're praying at the sink
while you wash the dishes, and next thing you know, your mind
goes out in left field? I'm the only one that happens
to. Beloved, prayer doesn't come
natural. It's probably one of the hardest
things to do. Well, how we should pray that
God would lead us to himself every day in prayer. That we
would do what Paul would say, we would pray without ceasing.
That we would take everything to prayer. If we take everything
to prayer, we take everything to God, then we know God can
do that which he has purposed us to pray for. The prayers of a righteous person
are that of much. And what greater blessing can
we give to our brothers and sisters in Christ besides fellowshiping
with them and teaching them the word of God and shepherding them?
What greater blessing can we give them than to pray for them? Knowing
that God can do way more than what we can do for them. Because
even when we give them the word, we can't make them see it. We
can't make them hold fast to it. and we'd pray that God would
cause them to pray, that God would do a work in them, that
God would keep them in his word, that he might renew their minds
each and every day. He says, we always thank God
the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we
heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. Why would Paul give thanks
to God for their faith? because they cannot have no faith
apart from God giving them grace to believe. Why do we pray for
lost people? Because lost people can't save
themselves. James, I'm not sharing the gospel.
Yeah, we should share the gospel with those who come across our
pathway, but even by sharing the gospel with them, that cannot
bring them alive apart from God giving them grace to believe.
Faith, beloved, is not something that we mustered up in our own
power. Faith is the gift from God. Seeing
is believing, and seeing is believing, and believing is having faith
in Christ, and it's all the work of God. That's when Paul is giving
thanks to God for the faith that they have in Jesus Christ. the
genuine faith they have in Christ, the faith that the first Thessalonian
church had, that it has such faith in Christ that they turned
away from idols and they trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, the
one true God. Because we know Ephesians 2,
8, which us reformers love to run to, for by grace you have
been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing,
it is a gift from God, not a result of works, and no one may boast.
Did you hear that, beloved? For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that's not of your own doing. The grace
is not of your own doing. The faith is not of your own
doing. It's all the work of God. It's all the work of God. Even
Jesus disciples knew this. David knew this when he was walking
in, when he tells them to forgive their brothers and sisters after
they sinned against them seven times. No, he says, forgive them
77 times. And he says, well, Lord, increase our faith. Because
they realized that they could never forgive their brothers
and sisters in Christ unless Jesus gave them the grace and
increased their faith to forgive them. And we even know in Romans
12 when Paul was talking about different members of the body.
And he talks about how God gives us the measure of faith to do
that which He has called us to do. How do martyrs, how do they
die and profess Christ with a blade up through the throat? Because
Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit gives them
the measure of faith to profess Him even though their life is
on the line. What caused Peter and them to
drop their nets and follow Jesus? Because God gave them the measure
of faith to do such. What causes brothers and sisters
to take a meal to someone who just has surgery? Or someone
who's ill? Because God gave them the measure
of faith to do such. Everything that God has called
us to do, we do not do in our own power. We do by faith. Think about that, when Abraham
by faith done what all God called him to do. Elijah done everything
God called him to do by faith. Peter done everything God called
him to do by faith. God gave them the measure to
faith to do all that he had predestined them to do. That they might fulfill
all the good works that God had prepared beforehand for them
to do by faith. Beloved, faith is a gift from
God. That we should pray that God would grow us in our faith.
and how we should pray for those who are lost and cannot see the
truth that God would bring them the faith. As Paul would say
in 1 Corinthians 2-3 that no one can say Jesus is Lord except
through the Holy Spirit. Hear that. Apart from the Holy
Spirit coming upon someone, they can never say Jesus is Lord unto
salvation. Now many can say Jesus is Lord
because we know in Matthew 7-21 many would declare Him Lord at
any age but He would say depart from me I never knew you because
they trusted in the works. But only those who truly believe
Jesus is Lord and Savior of their life cannot do such apart from
the Spirit of God coming into them and causing them to confess
Him as Lord over all. Causing them to confess Him as
Savior. He says, we pray for you. We thank God, the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ for the faith that He has given you.
That's what He's teaching us. How much more than only should
we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ and give thanks
to God for their faith, but give God thanks for our faith. He says, we always thank God
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you since
we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that
you have for all the saints. So he's thanking God for the
faith they have in Christ, and then he's also thanking God for
the love that they have for each other. Capal knows that they
cannot believe in Christ apart from God's grace, and they cannot
love each other apart from God's grace. It does not come natural
to love people. It doesn't come natural. I'm talking about God when he
saves us, he does a supernatural, puts a supernatural affection
in us for each other. As Paul would say, God is my
witness of how I have a affection for you when he writes to the
first Thessalonian church. How did he have that affection? Not
because he was Paul and he was an apostle. No, he had that affection
because God was working in him and giving him that affection
for the church. There's really no such thing
as a believer hating the church. To hate the church is to hate
Christ. Because Christ is the head of
the church. Christ is the face of the church. To say I hate
the church is to hate God. Isn't that what Jesus told Paul
on the road to Damascus? He didn't say, Paul, why are
you persecuting my body? And he says, Paul, why are you
persecuting me? Paul had no love for the brethren
at that moment, then God saved him, and guess what? It's like
overnight he had a supernatural affection for the brethren, and
as he went to these places, God continued to grow in him a love
for them, that he would pray for them, that he would break
bread with them, that he would sharpen them in their faith. That anyone
who's been born of God will love all people that's been born of
God. Because if we do not love, in 1 John he refers to us as
Cain's. What did Cain do? He hated his
brother Abel, so he slayed him. Now do you think the people in
1 John when he writes them letters, you think that the men were in
there killing each other? No. But they were with their lips.
They were with their hearts. That Jesus says, what if we hate
someone? We commit murder in our heart. You go to most fellowships
and you got this person mad at this person. You got half of
the church divided against this side of the church. Why is that
so, beloved? Because most of them in there
is not born again. God, here, God, God will not allow us to
have intimacy in the practice of having intimacy with his body.
Won't do it, beloved. He convicts us when we're at
odds with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And when He convicts
us, we must repent. Whether we were right or in the
wrong, we'll do anything to bring right relationship between us
and our brothers and sisters in Christ. Because God has given
us a supernatural affection for His body. Paul did not give thanks
to God just because these people said, I love you. We all can
say that, but know that they were showing their love for the
brethren. They were laying their life down
for each other. They were meeting each other's needs. They were
spending time together. They were taking each other in
their homes when they would be kicked out of their physical
family's homes for the sake of Christ. So Paul gives thanks to God for
the love that they have for all the saints. But he also gives
thanks to God because of the hope laid up for them in heaven. The only time when you see about
faith is what? Faith, love, and hope. All these are things that
God gives us by His grace. And we know the hope that's laid
up for us in heaven is Jesus Christ. Hear that. That's the hope we have for us
in heaven, beloved. A lot of time when people think
about what's in heaven, Jesus Christ comes later on down the
list. Well, I get to walk the streets of gold, and I get my
five-story mansion, and I get to see my mama and my grandparents
and my children, and they all gonna meet me at the pearly gate.
Welcome me into heaven. Oh, and there's Jesus. No, beloved. We as saints are not hoping for
these other things that we pray that our parents and our grandparents
and our loved ones are there. Our hope is seeing the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the hope that's laid up
for us in heaven, that he is our true treasure. He's our true
treasure, beloved. I mean, if Paul and them, if
Paul and them's treasure was in their family, why in the world
they leave them? to go and do the work of the
ministry if all their hope was in their physical family. No,
all their hope was in Christ. All their hope was in Christ,
beloved. And because we have a hope laid up for us in heaven,
bud, but we don't have to fear death. We as Christians have
no need to fear death because we have hope laid up for us in
heaven. As Stephen saw the Lord Jesus at the right hand of the
Father in his death, so will we in our death. Sin causes the
body to die, but the grace of Christ causes us to live with
him in glory for eternity. That the sting of death is sin
and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives
us victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about that, beloved. Stephen bared witness to what
he saw in the moment of his death. He saw his hope, which was Christ. And beloved, when God takes us
out of this world, the moment we close our eyes, we will see
our hope, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what makes the martyrs
so fierce. This is what made the early church
so fierce that they could go and preach the Word of God so
fiercely because they had a hope in heaven, which is Jesus Christ.
They actually believed that Jesus Christ rose again. See, when we really focus on that
and we truly believe that, we become fierce. Nothing stands
in the way of sharing that hope. Nothing. Because Christ has rose
again. That martyrs can look death in
the face and say, Christ is Lord, unless you repent and trust in
Him, you will perish and not have everlasting life. Because
they have come to realize by God's glorious grace towards
them that Christ has risen again. Because, beloved, if Christ has
not risen again, let's shut our Bibles and let's go home. Let's
go drink and be merry and do what the world is doing, because
if Christ hasn't risen again, everything we have done is in
vain. We are the most to be pitied if Christ hasn't rose again,
according to what Paul says. Why would Paul say that? Because
Paul gave the luxuries of the world away for Christ. Paul was
on his way to be Osbus the king amongst his people. He was the
Hebrew of Hebrews. They esteemed Paul's high. They
even laid their coattails at his feet when they stoned Stephen.
And what does he do? He gives that all up. Because
he realized that his hope was not in them possessions, because
them things fade away. But his hope was in Christ. See,
a hope in Christ is just not some, some, it might happen hope. I mean, I hope that I don't have
to bury my kids before I die, but that's not a guarantee. I
hope that I might be able to eat something today, but that's
not a guarantee God can take my life or put me in the hospital
through a car wreck or something. But you know what is a guaranteed
hope? That Christ just rose again. That's an unfading hope. That's
a guarantee hope. That's more of a guarantee than
me saying that's the guarantee. It's a guarantee, beloved, that
Christ is risen again and we too will rise again. That when
He comes in His glory, He will send His elect angels out to
the four corners of the ends of the earth to gather in His
people, beloved. That we have no reason to be
ashamed of the gospel. No reason. No reason, beloved. As Peter would say in 1 Peter
1, Do you have not seen Him, you love Him, and do you not
see Him, you believe in Him, and you rejoice with a joy that
is inexpressible and filled with the glory, obtaining the outcome
of your faith and the salvation of your souls? We don't see Christ. But we believe in Him. Beloved,
we weren't there when they crucified Him. We weren't there for the
33 years that Christ walked on earth and the last three years
of His life, taught the Word of God powerfully and done the
miracles. We were not there when He took
His last breath. We were not there when He was buried. We
were not there when He rose again. We were not there when He ascended
to the heaven. But by God's grace, we believe such. And the Spirit
of God bears witness through our spirit that indeed we are
the children of God. So we trust in that. Hear that? We trust
in that. God has given us the grace to
grab hold of that. That we don't have to live defeated,
because we have a hope in heaven. He says, since it is heard of the faith
in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints
because of the hope laid up for you in heaven of this you have
heard before in the word of truth, the gospel. Where do we hear
about this hope, beloved? Where? From the word of truth. And what is the word of truth?
The gospel, the good news, excuse me, the good news of Christ.
Then we know, in Adam all died, but in Christ all will be made
alive. Adam separated us from God, and
yet Jesus Christ, the second Adam, reconciles us back to God.
That Adam cursed us because of sin, we were under the curse
of death, and then Jesus became a curse, that we might become
the righteousness of God. He took on our sin, He took the
judgment we so deserve. Think about that. The hell that should be poured
out on me for all of eternity, Jesus took it in six hours. Drunk the full cup of the wrath
of God and flipped it over and there was not one drop left to
be dropped out because He drunk it all, beloved. And He says
them glorious words. It is finished. It is finished
beloved, that God has satisfied his wrath towards me through
Jesus Christ. And we know Jesus takes his last
breath and then three days later, he rises again from the grave
to show that he was the Messiah. to show that He was the Savior
of the world, that He was the Lamb of God that takes away the
sins of the world, that He was the King of kings and the Lord
of lords, that He was God Almighty, that He was the Alpha and the
Omega, the first and the last. He appeared to His disciples
for 40 days, showing that it was a bodily resurrection. I
mean, why did he eat with them? There was no need for him to
eat with them. Of course, he had to eat on earth to sustain
his flesh, but he did not have to eat with them after the 40
days. I mean, during the 40 days of
appearing to them after his resurrection. But he does, why? Showing that
it is not a spirit resurrection, but a bodily resurrection. That
he was a bodily resurrection. That's when he would sit down
and eat a piece of fish with them to show that he was not a ghost.
but he was bodily resurrected. He tells Thomas, Thomas, stick
your fingers in my side, showing that it was a bodily resurrection,
beloved. Christ died on the cross for us, and three days later,
he rose again from the grave, showing himself to be God, and
all who trust in him shall not perish, but have everlasting
life, that we should have Christ for all of eternity. Hear that,
that we can have Christ for all of eternity. Oh, I love my wife,
and I'm thankful God called me to be married to her, but Christ,
I can have Christ for all of eternity? It's one thing to have
my wife, it's one thing to have my kids, but I can have Christ
for all of eternity? That when I take my last breath,
I can rise again from the grave and see Christ for all of eternity? I can behold His glory for all
of eternity. I can see His majesty for all
of eternity. I can see His splendor for all
of eternity. And I don't have to have wings
like the sheriff him do. I won't have to have nothing
to cover my eyes to see Him. That I'll be able to see Him
as Stephen's seen Him. What a glorious truth, beloved.
What a glorious truth. And not only does he give testimony
of who he is after he rises again from the grave, beloved, but
we know that he even appeared to John, the apostle, when he
writes the book of Revelations. And I love to take Jehovah's
Witnesses to this. I always ask them, who's the first and the
last? Jehovah is! Take them to Isaiah. Yeah, that's
Jehovah. Then you take them to Revelation
117. And John has fell down when he sees Jesus, and this is what
Jesus says. He said, fear not. I am the first and the last,
the living one. I died. And behold, I live forevermore. And I have the keys of death
and hates. So not only do we have the testimony
of Jesus appearing to his disciples and appearing to the 500, but
we even have the testimony once again of John of seeing him in
glory. Think about that. They did not
see him in glory. They just saw him go up to glory. And God,
even in his goodness, would show John, the Apostle John, his glory
and not kill him in the flesh. He felt as though he was dead. But Christ did not. He says,
fear not. Because why would John have the
fear of seeing Jesus? He doesn't. Because he's his
beloved child. Just like us, because we have
heard this Word of Truth, the Gospel, and God has saved us,
we do not have to fear seeing Jesus. That His coming for us, whether
it be by death or by Him coming in glory, we don't have to fear. The world has to fear. The world
should be trembling, but we don't even have to tremble, beloved.
Because we are covered in His righteousness that He sees us
as He sees Christ. He sees us as He sees Christ.
Even when we mess up, He's not angry with us. Hear that? When we mess up and
we sin as Christians, God is not angry with us. Because how in the world can
God still be angry with us when He put all of His anger out on
Christ? How can the Father be upset with
the church? How can He still have anger for
the church if Jesus satisfied it all? If Jesus did not satisfy all
the anger of God towards His church, beloved, then the church
is going to hell. Because there's nothing we can
do in our power to make God satisfied with us apart from what Jesus
has done for us in His finished work on the cross. No, God doesn't
like our sin, beloved, but in His goodness and His grace towards
us because we are legitimate children that He does love us
when He does discipline us. He does not do it in anger, but
He does it in love. Does it in love. That God in
His goodness, beloved, has sent Christ to pay the penalty of
our sin and rise again from the grave after dying for us, that
we can have that hope. That's good news. That's good
news if you trust in it. That's good news if you're hoping
in Christ today. It's good news if you're believing
upon Christ alone for salvation. But it's not good news, beloved,
if you're still trusting in yourself. It's not good news if you're
still trusting in all your works and hoping in that. Of course,
it's good news if God opens up your eyes to see that truth. Paul, give thanks to God the
Father, Lord Jesus Christ, for the faith of the saints, the
love of the saints, and the hope that the saints have in heaven,
which they have heard through the gospel. My beloved, I would
encourage you as James exhorted you before I got up here, share
the gospel. Share the gospel, share this
good news as you go out throughout your day that other people around
you might take part in the hope that we have in heaven, which
is Christ. Amen, let's pray. Father God, we thank you for
your mercy and your grace. Lord, I'm just thankful that
your scripture was read, that your scripture can do way more
than other things that I've said, Father. Pray, Lord, that you
would be glorified through your word being read, Father. I pray,
Lord, that this would rest upon our hearts and give us the grace,
Lord, to truly realize that we do have a hope in heaven, which
is Christ. And, Lord, I pray that this good
news that we have heard about Christ would be tattooed on our
minds each and every day, Father. that we'd wake up thinking about
the gospel, that we'd go throughout our day thinking about the gospel,
that through thinking about the gospel, we might share it, but
also through thinking about the gospel, Lord, that we might return thanks
to you through all that you have done through your beloved son,
Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray, Lord, that you would put us in your
word every day, that we would not take it for granted that
we have a Bible, Father, for we know other members of your
body around the world have yet to have your Bible, Father, yet
to have a Bible that they can read about you, Father. Lord,
let us not take that for granted. Let us dive deep into your word
every day that it might be well with our souls. And we ask this
in no other name but Jesus Christ. Amen. God bless your church.