Good evening everyone. Tonight's
message is called Studying Quietly and Walking Honestly. Tonight
we will continue our study in the book of 1 Thessalonians.
We'll be in chapter 4 again tonight and we'll be looking at verses
10 to 12. We will see Paul continue to exhort the brethren at Thessalonica
with these instructions in righteousness. Let's read verses 1 to 12 for
the context of these verses. Furthermore, then, we beseech
you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye
have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so
ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments
we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God,
even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication,
that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel
in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence,
even as the Gentiles which know not God. that no man go beyond
and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord
is the avenger of all such, as we have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto
uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despises, despises
not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love,
ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught
of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all
the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you,
brethren, that ye increase more and more, and that ye study to
be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your
hands, as we commanded you. that you may walk honestly toward
them that are without and that you may have lack of nothing.
Now two weeks ago we looked at how we are to walk in our daily
walk trusting and resting in the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior
and our Redeemer. Then last week we looked at verses
7 to 9 in this chapter and we saw how we are called unto holiness
to walk in Christ throughout this world. We're sanctified
in Him, we're forgiven of all our sins in Him, but we do not
use that forgiveness and that freedom we have in Christ as
a license to sin and go off into lawlessness. No, in our daily
walk we look to Christ. And this passage of scripture
brings forth instruction for righteousness for the believer
in Christ. And let us never forget the context
of this instruction, which Paul is writing to Thessalonian Saints,
again under inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. He's writing
to these brethren in this region who were once steeped in paganism
and they still live in an area which is steeped in paganism
and part of the religious rituals in that area, the pagan religious
rituals, is fornication. So he writes to them to tell
them to avoid and refrain from fornication because the blood
of Christ has bought them and they have not been called to
uncleanness but unto holiness. And tonight I pray that the Holy
Spirit of God would illuminate the scriptures for us as we look
at these instructions in righteousness brought forth before us before
we who are the born again blood washed people of God. And may
God, the Holy Spirit, give us grace and strength and power
to walk honestly in this world, to study quietly and to walk
honestly in this world, doing whatever our great God has called
us to do in this life unto Him, doing our labor in this world
unto Him and to glorify Him. As one grace preacher said, the
believer in Christ has a desire to bear the image of our Lord
Jesus Christ in our daily walk before God. And the people of
this sin-cursed world, we have a desire to bear the image of
the Lord Jesus Christ in this incursed world. Now what are
some of the reasons that we desire to do this? Well we desire to
do this because of the living union with the true and living
God which we have and that union is in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ who is the true and living God and also because the holy
scriptures teach us to be holy to walk as children of light
and also because holy living for the glory of of the Lord
Jesus Christ pleases God, and because it is the will of God
for his children to not even give the appearance of sin. Now
we know we're sinners, we know we walk in this world, this sinful
world, and we who are the people of God are but saved sinners,
but we do not strive to go off and sin. No, we hate sin. And
last week in our study we saw, when we looked at verse 9 of
this chapter, that true Saving faith fills our hearts with genuine
love for, for our great triune God, love, love, which we never
had in our unregenerate state and, and the love for the brethren.
And this, this is a gift of God. And the gift of God's face moves
us to loving submission to our new master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse nine in this text
and first Thessalonians chapter four, look at this. It says,
but it's touching brotherly love. You need not that I write unto
you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. The
Lord Jesus Christ has put into the hearts of his people our
love for him. He's loosened our tongues, beloved,
to publicly and boldly declare that Jesus Christ is our risen,
exalted, sovereign Lord, who works all things after the counsel
of his own will. and that He controls this whole
universe and everything in it for His glory and for the good
of His chosen blood-bought children. And the Spirit of Christ dwelling
in us gives us a love for the people of God, a love for our
brothers and sisters. in Christ who have been redeemed
by the same precious blood as we have. And we also have a love
for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, a love to want to be
where his gospel is preached on a regular basis, and a loving
desire to support his gospel with our labors of love. and
with our money as we are able to do so. The unregenerate man
in his natural state has no love for God, he has no love for Christ,
he has no love for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
he has no love for those who are true followers of the Lord
Jesus Christ. and every born again blood-washed
believer, we were in that same camp at one time. Never forget,
never forget the rock you were hewn from. Never forget the pit
that the Lord took you out of because we were there. We were
in that same camp and we would have continued in that state
of spiritual deadness. We would have continued in that
state of spiritual deadness if God had not sent the spirit of
his son into our hearts, if we were not born again by his almighty
power, and if he did not create new life within us. And brotherly
love, a love for God's saints, which God's people have for one
another, is a characteristic of every true follower of the
Lord Jesus Christ. False religionists claim to love
one another, and indeed they do manifest a concern for those
who unite with them. They fellowship together, they
encourage one another in their false religious beliefs, and
they minister to one another's needs. But their so-called good
deeds are nothing but an abomination in God's sight. What they do
is not for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, no. On the contrary,
their motive for what they do is self-recognition. And God
has not sent the Spirit of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into
their hearts. Well, how do you know that, Wayne,
one might ask? Well, when you talk to them,
you find out that they're trusting in something they've done to
gain favor in God's sight. They're trusting in something
they continue to do for their salvation. And their motive also
for what they do is to gain the approval and the praise of those
in their false religious camps. because they are ignorant of
God's righteousness and are going about trying to establish their
own righteousness, the scripture says, and have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end
of the law, works for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Romans
10 3-4. All false religionists blatantly
deny the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when a true
disciple of our sovereign Lord declares the one true gospel
to them, they show their true colors by hating the truth that
they have just heard, and by hating the one who has just told
them the truth. Therefore, God, the Holy Spirit,
is not their teacher. When God sends the Spirit of
His Son into our hearts, He will guide us into all truth, John
16, 13 says. The Holy Spirit of God will teach
us. We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh,
Philippians 3, 3. And we are taught of God to come away from
those wicked camps of self-righteous religionists. And we are to bear
the reproach of the Lord Jesus Christ for His honor and for
His glory. And no one has to teach the born-again blood-washed
believer to love those who are true followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our love for each other is the
fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God teaches
us to love one another. Not only do we see that truth
clearly set forth in our text, The Holy Spirit puts his love
into our hearts, and God by his sovereign grace and sovereign
mercy is the one who makes us to differ. The only one who's
made us to differ from anyone else, from false religionists,
from those who are lost in this world, is our great God. And the only one who's made us
to differ from each other, because we're all different, is the grace
of God. And it's God's grace which humbles
us before the God of all grace. Why? Because we know we have
nothing in ourselves to boast before God. Nothing. Let's read
verses 9 and 10 together in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 again. But as touching
brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves
are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it
toward all the brethren, which are in all Macedonia. But we
beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more. Those
enlightened, born-again, blood-washed saints at Thessalonica did love
one another, and they proved their love for each other by
uniting together against those who opposed the truth. but they
also manifested their love for God's saints in other places,
which we see in that text there, in all of Macedonia. Paul writes
this in verse 10, and indeed you do it, toward all the brethren
which are in all Macedonia. Now remember that this applies
to all of God's saints in every generation. This applies to our
local body of believers right here in Almonte, Michigan. And
thankfully, our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ has united us together
in love and in truth. And just like the saints at Thessalonica,
we have come away from the gods of our own imagination. Some
of us have been delivered from Catholicism. Some have been delivered
from works-based religion. Some of us have been delivered
from legalistic religion, which we were in. And all believers,
though, have been delivered from our own sins, haven't we? Even
though we're still sinners in this world, we've been delivered
from our sins, from the power of our sins, right? from the
penalty of our sins and praise God one day when we're taken
up the glory will be delivered from the presence of our sin
and oh what a day that'll be for we who are the people of
God and although we are still sinners all our sins are forgiven
in Christ praise his mighty name. And God's people have been showing
our desperate state before God, our natural desperate state before
God, including our self-centered ways. And we have been set free
from the power of darkness. We've been liberated, beloved.
Our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our great Deliverer,
has delivered us from the prison house of unbelief and sin. And
from every false hope that we had, that we had, every false
hope that we had, we've been delivered from those things.
Oh, and every one of us, every one of us used to have false
hopes. Every one of us. Doesn't matter
where our brothers and sisters in Christ might be, here in Almonte
or in other parts of this world we live in, we love those who
love Christ. They are not our enemies. And
we prefer their company to those who are still in darkness, to
those who are still dead in trespasses and sins. This does not mean
that we are to disassociate ourselves from loved ones and friends who
are still in darkness. No, we are not to do that. But
if we prefer the company of the ungodly to the fellowship of
God's saints, there's something drastically wrong with our fellowship
with the Lord Jesus Christ. And those who are called with
a holy calling will not compromise gospel truths. God's glory is
at stake. We do not persecute those who
are still in darkness. We continue to show love and
kindness to our unsaved loved ones, praying that our sovereign
Lord might be pleased to grant them repentance unto life. And
our Lord Jesus Christ said, God is a spirit and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and truth. John chapter four,
verse 24. And those saints at Thessalonica, they suffered persecution
from their own family members and from those false religionists
who were once a part of their lives. And God had delivered
them by making his gospel effectual in their hearts. They did not
hear the gospel in word only. Oh no, but as we saw earlier
in this study of this book, that word of God came to them in power. And that's a power of the Holy
Spirit of God. And by God's sovereign grace
and power of his Holy Spirit working in us. This is exactly
what God accomplishes in the lives of his enlightened saints.
This is how the love of God works in the lives of those he sets
free from the bondage we were in. We have a love for the gospel. We have a love for God. We have
a love for the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a love for the scriptures.
We have a love for his people, which we never had before in
our natural state. Now note, What Paul brings forth
in verse 10 of this fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians, he says,
but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.
What our Lord is telling us here through the inspired writings
of his servant is this. You have manifest your love for
the Lord Jesus. your love for His gospel, your
love for each other, and your love for His saints in other
places. But we beseech you, this is their earnest prayer, this
is Paul's earnest prayer for them, this is my earnest prayer
for the body here in Elmont, that we as brethren, as enlightened,
born-again believers, that you increase more and more, that
your love for the true and living God, that your love for His gospel,
that your love for His people, would increase for the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one who loved us and gave
himself for us, the one who shed his precious blood at Calvary's
cross to redeem our eternal souls and died and was buried and was
raised again on the third day and ascended up into heaven,
the one who right now sits on the almighty throne of glory
as our mediator. And we're only deceiving ourselves
if we foolishly think that we have reached full maturity in
Christ. There's no room for growth in
our love for him, his gospel, and for his people if we are
in that state. No, no, no. As we grow in grace
and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, our love for his gospel,
our love for his people increases more and more. Someone once said,
love may not be what makes the world go around, but it sure
makes the trip a lot more enjoyable. The love of Christ that is shed
abroad in our hearts by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, is the
cement that holds us all together. Without it, we're nothing. With
it, our pilgrimage journey here through this earth is a lot more
enjoyable. God's love is the barrier that
the devil cannot penetrate, and God's love for us and our love
for Him is what moves us to overlook one another's faults, to show
kindness to one another, to be patient with one another, to
be long-suffering with one another, to forgive one another. Why?
For Christ's sake, just as God has forgiven us, for Christ's
sake. This was Paul's earnest prayer
for the saints at Thessalonica. And this is my prayer to God
for me. This is my prayer to our Lord Jesus Christ for all
of us in the fellowship we have here in Elmont, Michigan. Oh,
that God would, have our love for Him increase. Oh, that God
would have our love for Christ increase. Oh, that God would
have our love for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation
in and through Him. Oh, that our love for that wonderful,
wonderful life-given gospel would increase. Oh, that our love for
one another, for the people of God, oh, that it would increase. And I trust that this is your
sincere desire as well, because we, all of God's servants, beseech
you, brethren, that ye increase more and more, as Paul wrote
in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 10. Now let's look at verses 11 and
12. The scripture declares, And that ye study to be quiet, and
to do your own business, and to work with your own hands,
as we commanded you. that she may walk honestly toward
them that are without, and that she may have lack of nothing.
We see that Paul brings forth that we as believers are to study
to be quiet. This is not about book learning,
but rather this has to do with an aim or a goal of making this
our business. Brother Tim James brings this
forth about this in the passage. In the original language, it
literally means being fond of or friends with honor, end quote. So beloved, beloved of God, we
see that this is an honorable pursuit for us. This is instruction
in righteousness for us as believers. We are to study to be quiet,
laboring to enter into the rest or cease from our labors and
rest in Christ. This relates to salvation wrought
by Christ. This studying or laboring addresses
the difficulty of removing ourselves from the equation of our salvation. Because the salvation of the
true believer in Christ is wholly dependent upon the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him alone. Our works, our works have nothing
to do with our salvation. We cannot save ourselves. And
even the good works which God has ordained for us after do
not save us. The ones which we do not even
know we do. They're just fruit and evidence
that God has done a mighty work within us. No, the salvation
of God's people is wholly dependent upon Christ and Christ alone. And our works have nothing to
do with it. Nothing. The scripture declares
salvation is of the Lord. And we are also not to draw attention
to ourselves as believers. We know this because of when
our Lord spoke of giving alms and praying and fasting. Turn,
if you would, to Matthew chapter six. Our Lord commanded his people
to not draw attention to ourselves. That when we give our alms or
when we pray, that we are to practice that to be unnoticed. Look at Matthew chapter six,
we're starting verse one, and we'll read the verse seven. Take
heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them. Now, religious folks, they do
things to be seen of man. It says here, otherwise you have
no reward of your father, which is in heaven. Therefore, when
thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee,
as the hypocrite do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may have glory of man. Verily I say unto you, they have
the reward. But when thou doest alms, let
not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine
alms may be in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret,
himself shall reward thee openly. Look at verse five of Matthew
chapter six. Now our Lord's gonna speak about
prayer here. When thou prayest, thou shalt
not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing
in the synagogues in the corner of the streets. Oh, they love
to get in front of people and just pray so that they're noticed.
Why? And we see that they may be seen
of man. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray
to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly. But when you pray, use not vain
reputations. No, pray from your heart. Don't
use the same prayer every single time. Pray from your heart. Do
not use vain reputations. Use not But when you pray, use
not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think they shall
be heard for their much speaking. And this is so against human
nature, beloved. And we as believers, we know
we fight our flesh all the time, don't we? We know. But we are
to make it our business to study quiet. And secondly, we are to
study to do our own business. Brother Tim James says this,
in the most practical sense, this means not to involve yourself
in anybody else's business. or in other words, mind your
own business. Meddling is not allowed. Make
it your business to not do it. This is especially true among
brethren. The Lord said, be not righteous
over much and do not listen so closely to others or you might
hear them curse you. The text is determined by the
context and Paul is particularly referring here to prating independently
or without dependence on other. He speaks of making your own
way in life, providing for yourself and your family through the labor
of your hands. Paul accounts this as a commandment."
So the result of this study in which we see in verse 10 will
be that you might walk honestly toward them that are without.
Now the love of the brethren we see in verses 9 and 10, it's
a given, it's a given. These verses in verses 11 and
12 speak of the people of God's dealing with those who are outside
the faith, the world, and it behooves us to be sure for Christ's
sake that we deal honestly with the world so that our Lord's
name be not blasphemed. Though we lack nothing in the
matter of eternal things because we are complete in Christ, and
we have all spiritual blessings in Christ, we can be lacking
in matters such as honestly dealing with the world. And this final
admonition is given that we might lack nothing in this area. It
is God who has made each of us to differ. It is God who has
ordained the path that each of us must walk on. And all of us
will make ungodly mistakes every day of our lives as we endeavor
to please our God in our walk before him because we're sinners.
But we don't strive in sin that grace may abound. No, we don't
justify our weakness by putting blame anywhere but on ourselves
when we do stumble and fall. But God is always there to pick
us up, isn't he? to encourage us in the path of
righteousness for His name's sake. Now, shouldn't this be
our desire for others when they're overtaken in a fault? For we
need to carefully consider these searching questions from 1 Corinthians
4, 7. For who maketh thee to differ
from another? There's the first question. Who made you to differ
from another? And then the second question.
And what hast thou, that thou didst not receive? What do you
have that you didn't receive? Now, if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? If it's
all a gift from God, if everything we have has come from God, then
why do we glory in it? Why do we glory in it as if we
hadn't received it? Brethren, grace makes us to differ. Everything
we have comes from God. And one of the sure signs of
self-righteousness is a loose tongue that badmouths others
because they don't live up to our expectations, because they
don't do what we want them to do. We don't hesitate to talk
about the good things that we do, but we're not so eager to
talk about the things that we do that are not good. And we
don't seem very eager to talk about the good that we see in
others. But people are always quick to point out faults in
other people. A biblical example is the Pharisee,
who looked at the publican and said, I thank thee that I'm not
as other men are. Extortioners, unjust adulterers,
or even as this publican over there. He wasn't praying to God,
beloved. No, he was praying with himself.
He was drawing attention to himself. And if we understand these Holy
inspired words by the grace of God, I am what I am. We will
not only be very careful not to find faults with others, but
we will not boast in ourselves, but we will sing with the songwriter,
oh, to grace, how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. James, writing under inspiration
God the Holy Spirit said, that it defiled the whole body
and set on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire
of hell. The tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. Therefore, bless we God, even
the Father, and therewith curse we men. which are made after
the similitude of God, out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing
and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be." James 3, verses 5-10. When we were yet enemies,
God proved His love for His chosen people by sending His Son. the
Lord Jesus Christ to die for us, to shed His precious blood,
to redeem our eternal souls at Calvary. If we would mind our
own business and use our tongues for praising God and for thanking
Him for all our blessings, there wouldn't be any time left to
badmouth others for their faults. Gossip, a loose tongue that spreads
the faults of others, even if what is said is true, is a sure
way to allow the evil forces of darkness to cause a division
amongst the Lord's people. Remember, God loves all of his
children with a perfect, eternal, immutable love. Hear in his love,
not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son
to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved
us, we are also to love one another. 1 John 4, verses 10 and 11. If God is our teacher, we'll
have some understanding of just how serious it is to offend one
for whom our Lord Jesus Christ suffered, bled, and died for.
In three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, these words were
written for our learning. Whoso shall offend one of these
little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that
a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned
in the depth of the sea. When we were little children,
we took the love of our parents for granted until we became adults
with children of our own. We didn't fully realize the many,
many sacrifices our parents made for us growing up and how they
proved their love for us. I'm not sure about your parents,
but I know this to be true in most cases. Our parents not only
despised any who would speak against their children, who would
speak out against their children, any of them, they would have
laid down their lives to protect us if it was necessary. In like
manner, well, we were babes in Christ. We didn't fully comprehend
God's love for His people, for the people of His choice, and
we still really don't. We grow in the knowledge of it,
but boy, we still have such a lack of understanding. We see through
a glass darkly right now. But as we mature in the faith,
the love of God, and sending His Son to die in our Our stead
in the room and place of His people, the great sacrifice of
Christ our Redeemer, which He made in laying down His life
to reconcile us to God, becomes more and more precious to us.
As we lay hold of this blessed truth that nothing shall be able
to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord, my, it just fills our hearts with joy. We also need
to lay hold of this God-honoring truth that God loves all His
blood-bought children the same. in spite of our many sinful weaknesses,
because we all have them. God help us to manifest our love
for him by our love for each other, by our love for all the
saints. We beseech you, brethren, that you increase more and more,
Paul wrote. Oh, let us lay that to our hearts. The last part
of verse 11 and verse 12 says, and to work with your own hands
as we have commanded you, that you may walk honestly toward
them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing.
Vicki and I were talking about this passage today, which I'm
preaching on tonight, and she brought up the verse in Micah,
which is so fitting. Turn, if you would, to Micah
chapter six, which is so fitting when looking at verse 12, which
tells us to walk honestly before those who are without. Look at
Micah chapter six, verse eight. He hath showed thee, O man, what
is good. Who's good? There's none good,
no not one, isn't there? None good in this world, but
who's good? God is good, God's good, and
God's showing his people what is good. And what doth the Lord
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God. What an exhortation we see in
this wonderful verse. God's people are to love mercy
and to walk humbly with our God. We are justified in Christ. We are justified in Christ and
we're to love mercy. We're not only to show mercy,
but we're to love mercy. And oh, how we love the mercy
of God, which has been shown to us in Christ. We know we're
sinners from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet, but
we delight, we who are the people of God delight in the mercy that
God has shown us. And we delight to show mercy
to others. Well, why? You know why? Because we have
received the debtless ocean of mercy in Christ from our great
God. And our Lord, our Lord delights
in mercy. His throne is a throne of grace,
a throne of mercy. Now the Hebrew word there, the
Hebrew word there for mercy, it means kindness, loving kindness,
mercy, goodness, faithfulness, love, acts of kindness. In this aspect of God, is one
of several important features of his character. Truth, faithfulness,
mercy, steadfastness, justice, righteousness, goodness. And
the classic text for understanding the significance of this word
is in Psalm 136, which we looked at this weekend. Let's turn there
real quickly. We're turned to the verse that
we looked at, Psalm this weekend. And this Hebrew word, the same
Hebrew word for mercy here is used 26 times to proclaim God's
mercy, His kindness, which is what it means in the Hebrew,
His kindness and love are eternal. Look at Psalm 136 verses 23 and
24. Look at these wonderful words.
Who remembered us in our lowest state for His mercy, His kindness
endureth, what, forever. and hath redeemed us from our
enemies for his mercy, his kindness, endureth forever. And we know
this is towards the people of God. The psalmist is bringing
forth that God's kindness, his faithfulness, which serves as
the foundation for his actions and his character. It underlines,
it underlines God's kindness and his faithfulness underlies
his goodness. It supports his unchallenged
position as God and Lord. It is the basis for His great
and wondrous acts and creation. It is the basis for Him delivering
and redeeming His people from Pharaoh and the Red Sea, His
kindness, His mercy towards His covenant people. And from eternity
past, when God chose a people in Christ, to the creation of
this world, to God's redemption of His people by the death of
Christ at Calvary, continuing with His burial and His resurrection
and His ascension, and also his second coming to receive his
people. All these things are monuments of our Lord's covenant
faithfulness and kindness. to his people in Christ. And
may God give we who are the people of God grace and strength to
walk humbly before our God, as he is the creator of all. He
is our redeemer. He is the true and living God,
and his ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our
thoughts. And we should walk in humility before him. When
we think of His greatness, when we think of His majesty, when
we think of His holiness, we walk before He who is King of
Kings. Never forget that, that we walk
before He who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, before He
alone who is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise. So we ought
to walk humbly before Him as opposed to walking in pride.
Praise be to God. Praise be to God for complete
salvation, finished salvation, in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, all according to God's mercy and to God's grace. Amen and amen.