So open your Bibles to Philippians
chapter 1, and we'll read the first two verses of this. This
is just a wonderful epistle. I am still trying to find out
if Paul was under house arrest or if he was in a prison, prison
in Rome. It looks like, and I always thought
he was in a prison, but it looks like he might have been under
house arrest. I'm not sure yet. It doesn't
really matter, does it? All we know is that he was imprisoned.
He was either under house arrest, imprisoned, or he was in a prison,
a Roman prison. But we know he's in Rome, and
he's writing this letter to the Philippians, who are very, very
dear to him. He was the instrument that God
used to establish this church, so he has a very, a familiarity
with them, right? He's very close to them, such
as like how we all are. And he was, in a sense, their
first pastor that way. He bought them the gospel. And
so they're very close. And we see that even with what
he writes here too in verses 1 and 2. He says, Paul and Timotheus,
the servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus,
which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. Grace be
unto you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now this is the first European city that the church
is established in. It's in Macedonia, it's a Greek
city. It's a Greek city, it's in Macedonia. And so Paul was
sent there by the Holy Spirit of God. I think last week we
looked, he was forbidden to go into Asia and he ended up coming
over here into Macedonia and bought the gospel and his church
sprang up there. Here's a little bit of history
of it, too. Some years earlier, just after
he had planned the church in Philippi, Paul encountered great
resistance from the neighboring Jews in the neighboring city
of Thessalonica, where another church had been established.
And the Jews there got all riled up, because there was a church
there now teaching what they didn't agree with. And so they
pursued Paul. They pursued Paul the Philippi.
I'm taking their money. Pursued Paul the Philippi and
then they actually pursued him to Berea too as well. So they
were angry and they accused Paul and other believers of violating
Roman law. Roman law. That's why Paul went
to Rome. And he was forced to flee the
city by night to avoid further persecution. He fled Philippi. because of these Jews, and because
also the Jews had riled up the civil government, the government
of Philippi in the city, and now they were wanting Paul as
well, because supposedly he violated Roman law. I read about Philippi, and it
was said to almost be like a second Rome. It was where the Augustus defeated, who was it, Oh, there was a huge battle there.
But anyways, Augustus set it up as like a second city of Rome,
a second major city of Rome. So it was quite a spot. And here God has ordained a church,
which spring up there. And also there was a road, a
Roman road that went from the Aegean Sea All the way, I'm gonna
get the, next week I'll let us, hopefully let us know the ways.
But I want us to think about this in God's providence. He
had this Roman road made so that people could travel all across
the whole empire. Think about that in God's providence.
They're building that road. They have no idea the gospel's
gonna spread right across. That road's gonna be used for
the gospel to go right into Rome. They have no idea. No idea. And these roads that they built
made easy access and quick access for people too. They didn't have
to stomp through trails in the woods and stuff. They got on
these roads. They were brick roads and they could travel.
That's why the legions could go from one place to another
in such a quick time because of these roads. And so God in
his providence had them build these roads all over the place.
And look what happened. And the language was Greek, right?
The Romans adopted the Greek language. Even though they spoke
Latin, they adopted the Greek language. They kept the Greek
language as the universal language. New Testament's written in Greek.
All these roads are here. I love looking at history like
that. from the light of God's providence. Because these folks
that were building these roads had no idea. They were just building
the roads for the Romans. They had no idea how they would
be used. Except they thought for a military
aspect. Isn't that amazing? Just like
the internet. Exactly. Just like the internet. Oh my. Now look, the gospel is
going out all over the world. All over the world. Oh my. And
these Thessalonian Jews that were after Paul, they were so
zealous that they pursued Paul even to the city of Berea. So
it's reasonable to think that these same Jews or others like
them, also troubled the church in Philippi, because the church
in Philippi was being troubled from without, and even from within,
they had arguments going on amongst them, and stuff like that, little
squabbles, but they were also facing heavy persecution from
without. And that was possibly even these
same Jews, or acquaintances of them, we don't know. And we know
the local government were against the church as well. So whatever
the specific nature of the persecution in Philippi, it's at least clear
that the church was suffering at the hands of unbelievers.
They were suffering at the hands of unbelievers. We have it easy,
beloved. You know, someone calls us a name and these folks were
getting beaten. They were being ostracized by
their families for their faith, right? Now, we do face persecution. Usually, it's from within our
own family or it's from without. But we do first face persecution.
And I'm not at all downplaying our persecution. These folks,
though, they were going through what Paul was going through and
stuff, being beaten and whipped. And we don't have to face that.
right now, hopefully not in the future as well, but we don't
know. Whatever we face, God will give us grace to face it, right?
That's right. We don't have to worry about
that. It's not happening right now. But we know God gave these
folks grace to endure what they went through. So the Church of
Philippi faced persecution from two places. First, it appeared
that they faced persecution from those outside the church, which
we just discussed, the civil government, unbelievers. And
second, they were threatened by the possibility of false teachers.
Now, false teachers, again, had crept into this church as well,
which we see Paul deals with circumcision again. Same lie. Same lie. See, Satan, he doesn't make nothing
new. Same lie is packaged up. There's
only two religions in the world, isn't there? Well, I don't even
call what we believe religion. But really, if you want to say
two religions, there's only two, grace and works. That's it. Grace
and works, that's it. My oh my. And we believe that
Christ finished the work completely for us, don't we? There's nothing
we can do to contribute to our salvation, nothing we can do
to keep being saved, nothing we can do to be saved. It's all
in Christ, in Christ alone. You must be born again. You must
be given the faith by God. My oh my. Look at a little bit
further down in this chapter, we see some of the persecution
that they're going through. Look at verses 27 to 30 of Philippians
chapter 1. Only let your conversation, now
conversation there is not conversation like I said, it's lifestyle.
In the Greek, it's your lifestyle. Let your lifestyle be as it becometh
the gospel of Christ. And whether I come and see you,
or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand
fast in one spirit. Now look at, Paul's desiring
that he hears what? That they just stand fast. That's
not mean moving forward, does it? That doesn't mean going backwards. You just stand fast. What do
we do as believers? We stand fast and just look to
Christ, don't we? See? The aim of this epistle is to
point us to Christ. The aim of all Paul's epistles
is to point us to Christ. So just stand fast. A lot of
people go, well, we gotta move forward. Just stand fast. Stand
fast in what? In the faith. Who's the object
of our faith? Christ Jesus our Lord. So just
stand fast in the faith. Just keep looking to Christ.
And you know, can we stand fast on our own? No, you know, amen brother Brian.
We can't, can we? Our Lord said, without me you
can do nothing. So it's the Lord who keeps us standing fast, isn't
it? But we do stand fast too though, don't we? but it's Him
that gives us the grace and the strength to do that, you see.
We got to give Him all the glory, don't we? Because in our nature,
if God tells us to stand fast, we're going to be running on
our own, right? As soon as trouble comes, what
do we do? I'm getting away from this. I'm getting away from this. No, we just stand fast. We stand
fast. When we went through that trouble
in the body, we just stood fast, didn't we? God did the work. And look what we have now. But
we just stood fast. None of us went forward, we just
stood fast. Isn't that amazing? God leads and directs his church. Leads and directs his church.
Well, it goes, with one mind, so our minds are to be focused
upon Christ, right? With one mind, that just means
unity. Unity together. How can two walk together except
they be agreed? The scripture says, right? So
if you're in a disagreement, you can't walk together. You
have to sort that disagreement out, right? This is why Paul
keeps striving for unity within the body. Because the body can't
move forward, or can't even stand fast, if there's division. Right? So this is why we stand
fast in one mind. Who's our mind set upon? Someone
tell us. Tell me who our mind should be set upon. Christ. Amen. Christ. That's right. Christ. Christ Jesus. We have our mind
set upon Christ. Look at this. Striving together
for the faith of the gospel. Why are we here? for the furtherance
of the gospel, right? We're striving together. Every
single one of us have a part in this work. Do you know that?
Every single one of us are here for a reason. Whether we support
the ministry with our finances, whether we support the ministry
in prayer, whether we support the ministry in presence, right?
Just being here, right? We all have a part. We've been
brought together by God in this place. Why? Striving together
for the furtherance of the gospel. Isn't that wonderful? My. And what happens to the gospel
after it's preached here? It goes out into the internet,
doesn't it? My oh my. And then God just does
with it whatever he pleases, doesn't he? My. In the last three months, I think we've had over 2,000
downloads from China. I don't know what's going on
over there, but I'm praising God that the gospel's going out. Right? And as I see, I just keep
praying, Lord, please use it for your glory. You know, he's
got lost sheep everywhere, doesn't he? He's got lost sheep all over
the place. And isn't that amazing that the
gospel can go into a country that normally resists it? Oh, my. There you go with the
internet being made for that gospel to go in there. That Roman
road right there, hey. Isn't that amazing? And here
we are, we just sit back and watch in awe, don't we? At what
the Lord's doing. My, look at this. And nothing,
terrified by your adversaries. Don't be afraid when people come
against us or against the church. Don't be afraid. Don't be terrified
by our adversaries. Don't be terrified by stuff you
hear going on out there in the world. You know, the news works
on fear. They make money on fear, beloved.
They make money on rousing fear. The scripture says, God hath
not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and
of a sound mind. We don't have to fear the things
going on, even though we're aware of it, and sometimes it startles
us, but we don't have to be terrified by it. Like Paul says here, don't
be terrified by your adversaries. Don't be terrified by those who
come against us. They came against our king, didn't they? They're
gonna come against us. Whether it be family or friends,
they're gonna. You take a stand, I guarantee
you, you take a stand for the gospel, and you are gonna hear
about it. And I'll tell you, you know where
the most noise is gonna come from? Religious people. That's where the most noise is
gonna come from. I'm telling you, it's true. Don't be terrified
by adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition.
It's an evident token of their evil. Praise God, he saved us. Praise God, our sins are all
forgiven. But to you of salvation and that of God. The gospel salvation
for us, isn't it? Because it tells us about our
Savior. And look at that. And that of God. It's God's salvation. It's God's gospel. For unto you
is given the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but
to suffer for his sake. Notice that? God's people will
suffer for the sake of Christ. But look what else is on here.
Look at how subtle this is. Not subtle, but just look how
matter-of-factly and yet people stumble over it. For unto you
is given. There's the word given. What's
given to us? In the behalf of Christ, not
only to believe on him. Oh, you mean that's given to
us? That's what the scripture says,
right? Can we believe without him giving us faith? Nope. No, we're dead in trespasses
and sins in our natural state, right? You must be born again.
You see how simple it is? It's God. This is why God gets
all the glory. Unto him, he gives us, this is
marvelous. Unto you is given in the behalf
of Christ, for Christ's sake, right? We're saved for Christ's
sake, Ephesians says. That's what it's basically saying
here. For unto you is given in the behalf of Christ, because
of what he's done. Because of his perfect sinatoning
work. Because his blood was shed to redeem our souls. Not only
to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. having the
same conflict which you saw in me, and now here to be in you. So Paul's saying, I was being
persecuted by those outside the church, and you're gonna be,
and we're gonna be, because we're gonna suffer for Christ's sake.
So don't marvel when family or friends come at you. Don't think,
wow, where's this coming from? It's coming because you're a
Christian. The suffering we go through, we go through it for
Christ's sake. And the apostles counted it all
joy. Now it's hard to count it all
joy when your dad's ripping you apart, or your family member's
ripping you apart, isn't it? It's hard, it's hard to count
it all joy. But remember this, they don't
even realize what they're doing. Yeah, forgive them. What did
our Lord say? Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do. Just like we were. And God's
forgiven us for Christ's sake, hasn't he? Isn't that wonderful?
Oh, it's so wonderful. So the believers in Philippi
were being persecuted for their faith in Christ Jesus. Because
they stood that salvation's of the Lord, that it's only in Christ
and by his precious blood, right? And his sin atoning work. And
so they were being persecuted because of that. You know why,
though? Think of this. They were worshiping idols before that.
You think those guys who made idols and stuff, do you think
they're a little ticked off that now they're preaching that you
don't need to bow before those idols? That's how they make their
money. Dave, you hit it earlier. They
hit the pocketbook, man. It hit their pocketbook. Yeah. I'll tell you, remember those
Jews we saw in Jerusalem? They got all riled up because
all these converts, 5,000 and 3,000. Why? It hit their pocketbook,
didn't it? They just lost 8,000 givers. You see? I'll tell you. And then
you see these false preachers on TV, they're just doing the
same thing. They're just deceiving people. They're like the false
teachers that come in and say, well, you've got to be circumcised
to be saved. They say, well, you've got to be baptized with
the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues to be saved. That's just
a bunch of lies. Just a bunch of lies, isn't it? And people
gobbled up. Give me your seed money. Oh,
yeah, yeah. Give me your seed money, and
I'll plant it. No, I want to put it in my bank
account over here. Now, my bank account will grow,
but your supposed seed money, you know, you'll just be. See,
those guys, they're nothing but rascals,
are they? They're not seeking the glory of God, are they? See,
this is how you tell a false teacher from a true preacher
who gets the glory. The true preacher will stand
up and preach Christ and Him crucified. That's what we do,
doesn't it, Travis, when we're in the public? We preach Christ
and Him crucified. And we're terrified to say something
wrong. We really are. My oh my. But those guys, they
just get up there and mumble jumble and all they're after
is money. That's all they're after. My oh my. So, they've been saved out of
all these false gods of the Greeks. And the Greeks had many false
gods. They lived in a Greek city. And
then they forsook, think of this too, they forsook the gods of
their fathers. Because for generations they've
been worshipping these different gods. And all of a sudden they're
saying, no, they're a bunch of false idols. There's only one
true God and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's going
to rile some folks up, isn't it? Especially in a Greek Roman
city. Especially in a big city like
Philippi. An important city like Philippi. Now, is it any wonder
our Lord said you must be born again? You must be born again. When this occurs by the power
and might of God, the Holy Spirit, we become new creatures in Christ.
That's what has happened to these folks. They become new creatures
in Christ. Now they're called saints, which
just means holy, just means set apart. My, oh, my. They're new creatures
in Christ. And they used to be idol worshipers. And because now they're new creatures
in Christ, they've forsaken all those idols. They're saying they're
nothing but stone. They can't hear you. Now would
that rile folks up? Oh yeah, it would. But Paul said
he rejoiced that they stood fast. So if they stood fast, they're
not going to be going, well, you know, maybe there's some
credence to them. No, they're standing fast and
saying they're just a bunch of idols. They can't save you. You have to carry them around
when you move. You've got to put them in your cart, and they
can't even walk to your new house. They have to be put in a cart,
and your horse has to bear the burden of them. Right? Oh my. Now what's one of the
most difficult things when we're going through a trial? One of
the most difficult things when we're going through a trial is
to refrain from trying to fix the situation. Right? Isn't that the hardest thing?
Do you know that that trial is being ordained for us by God? You know why? To fix our minds
upon Christ. Those trials are good for us,
even though we don't think they are. They're actually good for
us. You ever notice that? I remember talking to Sister
Marge. Remember Sister Marge? And she said, I thank God for
my cancer. And I said, what do you mean? I've never heard anyone
say that. And she goes, because it's drawn me closer to Christ. And
I was like, my. So she realized that trial she
was going through was there to fix her mind upon Christ. Isn't
that wonderful? I only knew her for a year or
two, but we grew really close. She used to call me a few times
a week, and we'd just talk. And what a sweet lady. But her
mind was fixed on Christ, beloved. And you know who her concern
was for? Her kids, more than anything. She wasn't worried
about her cancer. She knew that was a vehicle to take her home.
She was more concerned about her children. Isn't that amazing? Oh, my. My, oh, my. So we have to refrain
from trying to fix the problem. Because our flesh and our ego
and our self-justifying bent, because that's what we all have,
will immediately kick in gear when trouble finds us and goes,
how can I fix this? And I know it's for me. Is it for you? I'm being honest.
That happens to me. We're all smiling. I think we're
all going through the same thing, right? Oh my. And think upon this. The big things, catastrophes
that control the universe and such things easily fall in our
parameters of faith, right? Okay, God's taking care of all
those. But the small everyday occurrences, disappointments,
discomforts seem at first to have nothing to do with our faith,
but rather our assumed ability to overcome those trials in the
power of our own impossible ability. We can't fix the trials. But
we try, don't we? We try. Why do we think that
God can handle the big things and he can't handle the little
trials that we go through? Why do we think we have to fix
them? Amen. Dave just said it. The
flesh. So let us refrain from trying
to fix these things when they come into our lives and rest
in Christ. I can't tell you, I can't tell
you how many things has happened to me. Over and over. Vicki and
I can attest to this. How many times this has happened.
This thing seems like a gigantic mountain. Oh man, this is going
to crush us. And within a day or two, the
Lord just, whoosh, gets gone. You're like, where'd it go? Or
a week, or a month, where'd it go? It seems so insignificant
afterwards. But it seemed like such a mountain.
Spurgeon says, we have a tendency to make mountains on Mohills when it comes to trials. Can
the Lord take down a mountain as much as he can of Mohill?
It's his mountain, isn't it? Yeah. Oh, my. See? Lord, help my unbelief. No wonder Peter cried that, right?
I can cry that. Can you? Lord, help my unbelief. Help my unbelief, Lord. Oh, my. So we trust God with the big
things, and we trust God with the little things. What Paul's
doing here, he's centering the believers in Christ at Philippi,
as again, all his books seek to aim us to Christ, seek to
bring our focus to Christ, and he's doing it again here. Turn,
if you would, over to chapter four. Now, Paul understood the
problems that plagued this church and the believers, and he was
aware by experience that these were merely the flow of human
existence. Remember, he's been through many
testings himself, right? He's been through many testings,
many trials, and look at what he says over here in chapter
four, in verses 11 to 13. He says, now that I speak in
respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith
to be content. So no matter what state he's
in, whether he's rich, poor, in trial or out of trial, suffering
or not suffering, he's learned to be content. He's learned to
be content. For I know how to be abased,
which is to be low. God the Holy Spirit brings us
low, doesn't he? When he saves us, he brings us
low. We say, oh, I'm the worst sinner. I need salvation. And then he applies the balm
of Gilead. And our hearts soar in Christ, don't they? Isn't
that wonderful? And that happens when we listen
to messages, doesn't it? We get tore down and built up
in Christ. Tore down and built up in Christ. And it's the Holy Spirit doing
that. It's not the preacher. Preacher's just preaching the
word. My. And you know what's happened
to the preacher in his study? He'd been tore down and built up.
Tore down and built up. Same thing. Oh, I know how to
be abased, and I know how to abound, so to have plenty. Everywhere
and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through
Christ which strengthen me. Now people have taken this and
they've said this verse here and said well see you can get
rich. We have to we have to consider the context right of what this
what this these these saints are suffering for their faith.
So he's saying, I can abound, no matter whether I'm being persecuted
or not being persecuted, whether I'm being abased or whether I'm
abundant. In all those situations, I can
do all things through Christ, which what? Amen, sister, strengthens
me. See, without Christ strengthening
us, we have no strength, do we? Do you see how it all goes back
to God? See, in religion, I was always told, you gotta do this,
you gotta do that, you gotta have more faith, you gotta have
more joy, you gotta, well, I found that I couldn't muster that up,
and so I was miserable. But when I look at this text,
I rejoice because it's Christ who strengthens me. When I fall
into sin and temptation, which we all do, it's Christ who strengthens
us, right, and takes us out of that, isn't it? Oh my, it's Christ
who lifts us up. It's Christ who saved us. It's
Christ who's redeemed us. It's Christ who's done the perfect
work for us in our room and place. It's Christ, it's Christ, it's
Christ, right? It's all Him. And here we see
it's Christ who strengthens us. When I'm weak, He's strong. Yep. And boy, are we weak, right? Oh my, isn't it wonderful? Oh
my. So the solution to the trial
for remedies is not how to fix them. Let us remember that they're
all ordained by God, right? Every trial we go through is
ordained by God. And they will come. And they
cannot be fixed. They cannot be fixed. Rather,
they're designed to fix, to set the heart and the mind of the
believer upon Christ. Now that changes the whole aspect
of them, doesn't it? Why do we get persecuted for
our faith? To set our minds upon Christ. Why do we go through
trials and tribulations in this world? Well, I believe to wean
us from this world, right? But more importantly, to set
our minds upon Christ. Isn't that amazing? So all through
anything we go through, our great shepherds ever keeping us and
protecting us and giving us strength to continue on. Isn't that amazing? I'll tell you, we have a great
God, beloved. He does supply all our needs, doesn't he? Spiritually
and physically. And I'm not talking needs being
rich. Being rich is nothing. We're rich in Christ already.
You know, see, men in this world, they strive for power and wealth.
If you have Christ for your reward, is there anything else more greater
than Christ? There is nothing greater than
Christ, is there, Brother Chavez, in this world? Nothing. And He's
our reward, beloved. Woo! My, I'll tell you why. Turn
over, if you would, to Philippians chapter 2. Notice we're not leaving
this book very much. We're going to just stay and
look through this book at different cross-references. We see Paul
have us set our mind upon Christ. Look at this. Philippians chapter
2 starting in verse 5 and going to verse 8. 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. See, we make ourselves of no
reputation. Christ is all. Christ is all. Now before I was saved, I wanted
to be somebody. I looked out for number one, and that number
one was me. And I admit that. I was selfish.
I still am selfish. But I was selfish. I just wanted everything for
myself. My brothers were into wildlife
artwork. I got into wildlife. I'm going to get some better
pictures than them. It's just foolishness. Foolishness. But made himself of no reputation,
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in likeness of man.
What does Paul call him? Look at what Paul says about
him and Timothy. Paul in verse 1 of chapter 1,
Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ. We're just a
bunch of servants. We're bond servants, beloved.
Oh my. And being found in a fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient even unto
the death of the cross. He was sent here to die. And praise God, he died for us,
but he rose again for us too, didn't he? Oh my. So we need
this truth set before us. To look to Christ. Whenever a
new trial or situation comes, we need to just look to Christ.
And this is Paul's desired design by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God. Look at Philippians chapter 2, verses 9 to 13. Wherefore, God has also highly
exalted him, that being Christ, and given him a name which is
above every name. In the name of Jesus, every knee should bow
of things in heaven and things on earth, things under the earth,
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. for it is God which worketh in you, I love
this verse, for it's God which worketh in you both to will and
to do of his good pleasure. Why are we saved? Because it's
God who worketh in you both to do his will and of his good pleasure.
My oh my. Why are we born again? Well,
because it's God which worketh in you. both to do his good,
or his will, and his good pleasure. Isn't that amazing? Oh my. My, oh my. Let's go back to read verses
one and two again. Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ,
to the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi, with bishops
and deacons, grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now quickly, quickly, turn to
Exodus 21 if you could. Paul setting forth the fact that
how Timothy and him are servants of Christ. Paul is the sole writer of this
epistle, but we see he includes Timothy in his salutation. For several reasons he does this.
Timothy was with Paul when he preached in Philippi, and also
he planned to send Timothy to them later on. And then also
he shows the continued agreement between himself and Timothy in
love and doctrine. So they're servants, which in
the Greek is bond servants. Now look at this. We'll quickly
look at this. My oh my. He was a bond servant
of Christ, Paul was. He was in the absolute presence
of possession of the Lord Jesus Christ. God possessed him, right? In the sense that he is ownership.
He owns us. Not only did he make us, but
he bought us. He owns us. He brought us with his precious
blood, and we're willing and loving bond servants, aren't
we? Look at this in Exodus 21. This speaks of a willing bond
servant, and this is what? Verse two, if thou buy in Hebrew
servants six years, He shall serve, and in the seventh he
shall go free for nothing. If he come in by himself, he
shall go out by himself. If he were married, then his
wife shall go out with him. If his master hath given him
a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters, the wife and
her children shall be her masters, and shall go out by himself.
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master. Oh, we
love Christ, don't we? By God-given faith. Look at this.
My wife and my children, I will not go out free. Then his master
shall bring him unto the judges, and he shall bring him to the
door, the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with
an awl, and he shall serve him forever. Beloved, we've had our
ears bored, haven't we? We're willing servants to our
master. Bore my ear, Lord. I'm yours. Oh, what a great God we have,
eh? Isn't he glorious? Isn't he wonderful? Brother Brian,
can you close us in prayer?