Let's go, Lord, in prayer. Heavenly
Father, we come before thy throne. We bow before thy sovereignty
and majesty in awe of who you are and who you've revealed and
how you've revealed yourself to us, to we who know you, and
how you are King of kings and Lord of lords and ruler of all
things. visible and invisible. I pray
that the Holy Spirit would illuminate the scriptures today, that we
might learn more and more of the things of the Lord Jesus
Christ, not that we can boast in what we know, but, oh Lord,
that we can be in awe of who you are and what you've done
for us. We give you thanks and praise,
and we love you because you first loved us. In Jesus' name, amen. 2 Peter chapter 3, the name of
the message is Grow in Grace. in grace, 2 Peter chapter 3. We'll read from verses 8 to verses
18, to verse 18. But beloved, and remember beloved
there is divinely loved ones. Beloved, be not ignorant of this
one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years,
and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some man counts slackness, but is long-suffering
to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also, and the works that are therein,
shall be burned up. All these things shall be dissolved.
What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation
and godliness? Looking for and hastening unto
the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness." Now we'll read Peter's final words to the born-again,
blood-washed saints that he's writing to. Verses 14 to 18,
he says, Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such
things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without
spot and blameless. And account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul,
also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you. As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of
these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which
they that are unlearned in unstable rest as they do the other scriptures
unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing
ye know these things before, beware, lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. To him be glory, both now and
forever. Amen. Last week we looked at
verses 10 to 13 in this wonderful epistle before us, in which we
consider the day of the Lord, or the day of God, which is the
second coming of Christ. And he will come as a thief in
the night, beloved. He'll come when no one expects
it. He'll come as a thief in the night. And when the last sheep of God,
when the last sheep of God, when the everlasting covenant is totally
fulfilled, it's over. Our Lord's going to come right
back. He's going to come right back. Now, we don't know when
that is. We have no idea at all. But all
for whom he died for, all for whom he shed his precious blood,
when they are born again, when they are bought to repentance,
he will return. He will return. And we considered
that this earth will never be destroyed by man. It'll never
be destroyed by man. Despite what people say, it'll
never be destroyed by man. Because we see in these scriptures
before us that it's the Lord who's going to burn up this world.
He's going to burn it up. The one who has all power. All
power. And he's going to burn it up
just at the word of his power. Just at the word of his power.
And we considered how the scripture These scriptures before us, talking
about the day of the Lord, they just magnify his sovereignty.
They magnify who he is. He's God overall, visible and
invisible. There is absolutely nothing that
escapes his eyes. He alone has all power and all
might. He alone. He is God Almighty,
the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Let's look at verse
14. And in light of the context of
these verses here, Peter is contrasting the scoffers with the believers.
And let's look at verse 14. In light of the promise of our
Savior coming back, Peter's saying, the scoffers are going to tell
you, oh, the Lord's being slack. He's delaying his coming. No,
he's not. And we're seeing that he's not
delaying his coming. No. He will only come back when
all the sheep of God are gathered in. Gathered in. Look at this
in verse 14. Wherefore, beloved, and remember
that's divinely loved ones. I keep saying that because I
just love that phrase, divinely loved ones. Wherefore, beloved,
seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may
be found of him in peace without spot and blameless. Without spot
and blameless. Now, some may take these words
and say, well, see, you have to keep yourself in Christ. Some
may take these words and say that. But we know from our studies
in 1st Peter and in 2nd Peter, and all through the scripture,
that without Christ, as our Lord said in John 15, without me you
can do nothing. Nothing. We can't keep ourselves. We can't. It's impossible. Left
to ourselves, beloved, we would fall a thousand times a day.
We would. But it's the Lord who keeps us.
It's him who keeps us. He keeps us from falling. It's
he who will lose not one of his sheep, not one of them. He says,
no man can pluck my sheep out of my hands, not one. And when
he says, all that the Father giveth me that come to me, and
no man can pluck them out of my hands, that means me, and
that means you who are saved. We can't get ourselves out of
Christ. It's impossible. It's impossible. The believer
is secure in Christ, in him alone. Turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy
chapter 33. Deuteronomy chapter 33. Again, left to ourselves,
we'd fall 1,000 times a day, beloved. Because all we do is
tainted with sin. Even after we're saved, we're
but saved sinners. We're saved sinners. But we are
kept by the power of God. We are kept by the power of God.
Look what the Scriptures declare here in the book of Deuteronomy
chapter 33 verse 27, in what comfort this can bring the child
of God, what comfort it can bring the child of God. Look at this,
Deuteronomy 33 verse 27, the eternal God is what? Our refuge. The eternal God. The eternal
one. The one who dwells in eternity. The one who is outside of time
and space. Remember that. God's outside of time and space.
We are locked in time and space. He dwells in eternity. He dwells
in eternity. He's the one who created time.
He's outside of it. He's eternal. Even the scripture
says what Jehovah is defined as the self-existent one. The
self-existent one. He has no beginning and no end.
He needs no one or nothing. Look at this, though. The eternal
God is thy refuge. Is he your refuge? He's my refuge. He's the refuge of believers.
And underneath, look at this, and underneath are the everlasting
arms. He holds his people with the everlasting arms of God.
And he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee and shall say,
destroy them. But look at that. The eternal
God is thy refuge. He's our city of refuge. He's
the one we flee to. And remember who Christ was.
He's God incarnate in the flesh. The eternal God is thy refuge.
And underneath are the everlasting arms. So who's the refuge for
the believer? Christ. Christ is our refuge. Christ is our refuge. So the
scriptures here declare that the eternal God is thy refuge.
Not my works. Not my prayers. Not how much
I know about the word of God. Not how much I read the Bible.
That's not my refuge. My refuge is Christ. Christ is
the refuge of the believer. And all those things are good
to do, but don't put your trust in them. No. Even faith. Faith is a gift from
God. It's given to us. It's given
to us. My. And think of this, too. All that we know about the scriptures,
all that we know about the Savior, we've been taught. So we can't
even boast in what we know, because it's God who's revealed it to
us. Everything we know. Everything we know. And we know
that the eternal God is our refuge, because Jesus Christ is the God-man,
the Word of God incarnate. The Word of God incarnate. And
this scripture here declares, and underneath are the everlasting
arms. He's the one who keeps us. My. So the eternal God is
the support of his people. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
10. John chapter 10. The eternal God is a support
to his people. He's our protector. And in him alone, in Christ alone,
is the believer safe. Nowhere else. Just like all those
who were in the ark were safe. And remember, the ark is a picture
of Christ. All who were in the ark were safe. All who were outside
perished. There's a perfect picture. All
who are in Christ are safe from the wrath of God. But all outside,
oh my. Oh my, they're not safe at all.
So it's the eternal arms of God that encompass the believer,
that shield us and protect us. And in him, the believer remains
immovable. Immovable. Because in him alone
we have eternal redemption and salvation. Again, it's brought
out by Christ, who is the God-man. He's the one who brought out
salvation for his people. He did it all. That's why we
cried on the cross. He said, it is finished. That
means it's perfect in the Greek. It's perfect. There's nothing
to be added to it. Salvation is perfect and complete
in Christ. And so we're kept and preserved
in Christ. He's an impenetrable fortress.
Nothing can take us from him. We're upheld by the everlasting
arms of God. So I ask you who believe in Christ,
if it is he who keeps us, And he who keeps all things visible
and invisible by the word of his power, then who can separate
us from the love of Christ? No one. No one. Look at John chapter 10 verses
25 to 30. Look at this. This is the master
speaking. This is God incarnate in the
flesh. And he says, Jesus answered them, I told you and you believe
not the works that I do in my father's name. They bear witness
of me. But you believe not because you're not of my sheep. You're
not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. And they follow me. Look at this,
who gives eternal life? Christ. And I give unto them,
his sheep, eternal life, and they shall never perish. All
those little hinge words, shall, they shall never perish. There's
no if, but, they shall never perish. Never, never. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. That means, if you're a believer,
that means you, and I'm a believer, that means me. So God's sheep
are safe and secure in Christ. In Christ. My Father, which gave
them me, and he gave them to Christ in eternity, is greater
than all. And no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are what? One.
Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. They're all God. And here's the
word of God incarnate. And he's speaking of his sheep,
those who the father gave him. And he says, no one, no one's
going to take them from me. No one. So with that in mind,
let's go back to verse 14 in 2 Peter chapter 3. Peter again
writes, wherefore, beloved, seeing you look for such things, this
is the second coming of Christ, be diligent that you may be found
of him in peace without spot and blemish. So we look for the
promised return of Christ. God's people look for the promised
return of Christ. Now, Paul wrote these words over
in Philippians chapter 3. He wrote this. He said, yea,
doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may
win Christ and be found in him, to be found in Christ. Not having
my own righteousness, no. No, not having our own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That I may
know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. So we keep our eyes, the strength
of the believer, we keep our eyes on Christ. The strength
of the believer is not derived from our own self. It's not derived from ourself.
Now before we were saved, we walked in our own strength, didn't
we? We tried to do things by our own strength. All the time. But the strength of the believer
is not derived from ourself, it's derived from Christ. It's
He who strengthens us. And the believer is exhorted,
turn if you would to Colossians chapter three, the believer is
exhorted to keep their eyes on Christ. This is the key, beloved. And I know when situations come
up, what's the first thing we do? Oh, my. But when we get our
eyes on Christ, it all just fades away. It doesn't just go away,
but that anxiety and that worry just fade away, don't they? Because
we're to trust him, and we're to rest in him. Look at Colossians
chapter 3. Here's Paul writing, telling
the Colossian believers the same thing, to keep their eyes. Look
at this. Colossians 3 verses 1 to 4. If ye then be risen with
Christ, if you're born again, if you're in Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand
of God. That's where he is right now,
ruling and reigning. He's not waiting to rule and
reign. He's ruling and reigning right now. He's a sovereign God. Set your affection, which is
your heart in the Greek, set your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then ye shall appear with Him in glory. Those who
are left alive will instantly be with the Lord. Instantly. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. So the believer knows and can
rest, no matter what happens in this world, the believer can
know and rest that our eternal state is sure in Christ. It's
unchangeable. What comfort that brings, what
comfort it brings us. It's wonderful. Our eternal status
is sure and unchangeable in Christ. It's not based upon us. It's
based upon what Christ has done. Now, we're susceptible to things
that appeal to the flesh, and so we're to count and reckon
that the passing of time between the Lord's ascension and between
his imminent return is long-suffering for our salvation. For our salvation. Therefore, the only thing that
should concern us is to be found in Christ. to be found in Christ. In the day of His coming. And
it's God who puts us in Christ. God puts us in Christ. It's He
who's done. He's the what? He's the author.
And He's the finisher, right? And He's everything in between,
too, beloved. And don't forget that, too. He's the author of
our faith and the finisher of our faith. And He's everything
in between. He's everything in between for us. So again, the
only thing that should concern us is to be found in Christ,
to look to Him. And it's in Him we have peace. When we're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, when we're granted faith to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, we cry out, salvations of the Lord. It's
of Him. And one day, one day, He will
present us faultless before His throne. And the scripture says,
with exceeding joy. Why? Why with exceeding joy?
Because he purchased us with his own precious blood. Purchased
us. Purchased us with his own precious
blood. Now let's consider verse 15.
Look at this. In account that the long-suffering
of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul,
also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you. So now we have to trace back
in the scriptures And we've looked at this in our study. We looked
at this in our study in 1 Peter to see who the long-suffering
of the Lord is salvation for. Look at this. Look at verse 9
of this chapter. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to usward. Not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. Now let's go to verses one. Look
at verse one in this chapter. Who's this written to? Well,
Peter writes here, this second epistle, beloved, I now write
unto you. Okay? In both which I stir up your
pure minds by way of remembrance. So the us word are the believers
he's writing to. And look at this. Now go over
to chapter one of this book. And who's he writing to? So we
always have to look at the context, and we have to look at who he's
writing to. The us word are believers. Look at this, 2 Peter 1, verses
1 to 4. Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious
faith, he's writing to believers. He's writing to believers. With
us is through the righteousness of God our Savior, Jesus Christ,
grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord. According as his divine power,
again, it's all the work of God, salvations of the Lord, hath
given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue. Whereby are given unto us, given unto believers,
right? exceeding great and precious
promises. And where is that? In Christ, right? We looked at
that in our study. It's all in Christ. That by these
ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust. Now turn
to 1 Peter, because remember this is the second epistle that
he's written to these believers. Now let's look at 1 Peter, I'm
sorry, 1 Peter, and let's look at chapter 1 and 2 to see who
exactly he's been writing to. And again, this is key. Who was
this first epistle written to? Because the second epistle is
written to the same people. Oh, see here, it's written to
God's elect. Those who were chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Look at this in 1 Peter 1 and 2. Peter, an apostle
of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Look at this. Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God. See, God didn't look down through
time and see who would choose him. God looked down through
time and saw everyone's a sinner, dead in trespasses and sins.
Everyone. And by his mercy and grace, he
chose a people to salvation. Now, we have no clue who they
are, but election is a biblical doctrine. It's in the Bible.
You can't deny it. God chose Israel, left all those
other nations in darkness. It's in the scriptures. the believer,
we're just in awe that he chose us. Oh my, me? Me? And we, I'll tell you what, I
don't think, I think we're going to live all the way to the end
of our life and go on, me? Me? It's amazing. Grace is truly, truly amazing.
So elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, How? Through
sanctification of the Spirit, we're born again of the Spirit.
Under obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,
grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Don't lose in this verse, too,
that the whole Trinity is in action in the salvation of his
people. The whole Trinity. God the Father chose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. The Holy Spirit regenerates
us, draws us to Christ, and we are saved by the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ that was sacrificed for his sheep
on Calvary's cross. It's amazing. So grace is truly
amazing grace. Turn if you would to Romans chapter
8. So the long-suffering in his return is for the salvation of
his chosen ones, his sheep, and they will all be born again.
He will not lose one of them. Remember what we read in John?
He won't lose one of them. They will all be granted repentance.
They will all be given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. They will all be born again by the Holy Spirit of God.
And our Lord's not slack in his return. He's gathering in the
elect. And again, we have no idea who
they are, so we preach the gospel to everyone. And God does the
saving. He does the saving. It's wonderful. We rejoice when
the Lord finds one of his lost sheep and regenerates them and
grants them faith. We rejoice, don't we? We love.
It's marvelous. It's absolutely marvelous. Look
at what Paul wrote. And remember in our verse there
that Peter referenced Paul, Paul wrote of these very same things
in his epistles. of the covenant of grace and of the election
and redemption of the chosen ones. Look at this in Romans
chapter 8, verses 28 to 31. And as we read this, note it's
all past tense. Look at this. And we know that
all things work together to them that love God. Now a lot of people
stop right there, but you've got to finish this verse. To
them who are the called according to his purpose. See, God has
an eternal purpose. He has an eternal purpose. he's
gathering in his sheep all according to his eternal purpose look at
this for whom he did for know he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son that we might be the firstborn
among many brethren moreover whom he did predestinate them
he also called and they're called with an effectual call they cannot
resist it they're called with an effectual call of God and
whom he called them he justified and notice it's all past tense
and whom he justified them he also glorified what we're seated
in the heavenlies right now with the Lord he's outside of time
and space beloved and it says what should we then say to these
things look at the I absolutely love this verse this is in this
wonderful this 31 what should we then say to these things if
God before us who can be against us the believer can say if God's
for me who can be against me Now we may have family members
who are against us, we may have friends who are against us. After
the Lord saves us, we find out a lot of people turn on us. But
you know what? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Oh my, oh my. It's wonderful, absolutely wonderful,
beloved. And so Peter brings forth, look
at verse 16 here. Peter brings forth in the next
verse, in 2 Peter 3.16, he brings forth And remember, he's writing in
the context, and he's showing the contrast between the believer
in Christ and the scoffer. Those who are the unlearned is
the scoffer, the unlearned and the unstable. And he brings forth
that they twist these scriptures as they do other scriptures to
their own destruction. Look at verse 16. The writing
of Paul is also in all his epistles, speaking in them of the things
in which are some things hard to understand. which they that
are unlearned and unstable rest as they do the other scriptures
unto their own destruction. So Peter's bringing forth that
the same truth which he proclaimed, Paul also proclaims. It's the
same gospel. It's the same gospel. And we
looked at that in Romans chapter 8. And what does that do? It magnifies the sovereignty
of God, right? The gospel of salvation in Christ
alone plus nothing by man magnifies, magnifies the sovereignty of
God. It puts God in his rightful place,
and it puts us in the dust. Puts us right in the dust, doesn't
it? But it glorifies God. And then the believer can say,
we can say, look what God's done for us. Look what he's done for
us. It's absolutely amazing. It's
absolutely amazing. He saved me. He regenerated me. He granted me faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. He did it all. I was dead in
trespasses and sins. I had no care for the things
of Christ. Was it so for you? It was. So for all of us who
are saved. Oh, what grace and mercy. What
grace and mercy. And we see here that Peter held
Paul in high esteem. He held him in high esteem. Notice
the words he pens about Paul. He says, our beloved brother
Paul in verse 15. Also according to the wisdom
given unto him, written unto you. And remember that beloved
is divinely loved one. My, he held him in high esteem. He speaks of Paul here in a very
loving and brotherly way. Paul was Peter's brother in Christ,
chosen in Christ before the foundational world by the same Father, redeemed
by the same Savior, and born again by the same Spirit. And they both preach the gospel
of God's free grace in Christ alone, which again proclaims
that salvation is in Christ and Him alone, and we are saved by
the mercy and grace of God. Look at verse 16 again, as also
in all his epistles speaking in them of these things in which
are some things hard to be understood, that the unlearned and unstable
rest as they do other scriptures unto their own destruction. So
some of the things of the last day that are spoken are hard
for us to understand. But as a believer, we're taught
just to rest and trust in Christ. He's ruling. He's reigning. And
the scriptures are a trap for the scoffer. The scriptures are
a trap for the scoffer because we know without the Holy Spirit
of God illuminating the scriptures, we won't know anything about
Christ. We won't know nothing. We have no understanding. So
the scoffers pretend to have an understanding of the word
of God. They pretend to, they draw men away with great swelling
words. They present themselves as authorities
on the scriptures. But all the time they know nothing.
They know nothing. Then they wrestle the scriptures
to their own destruction. They have no foundation. The
believer has a foundation. That's Christ. That's our foundation. He's our foundation, beloved. And we look to his return. Look
at verse 17. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing
ye know these things, Beware lest ye also being led away with
the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness.
So we see here an admonition of Peter to simple, it's simple
and to the point. It's to be careful and beware.
Peter has informed the saints he's writing to about the scoffers.
We see that in all this chapter here. And how they operate. They
know how they operate. They know how they operate. And
the believer is exhorted to be careful and be aware. so that
you not be led astray by these errors. And who's our steadfastness? It's Christ. It's not of our
own. We can't do nothing on our own.
It's all Christ. He's our steadfastness. His gospel. It's he that keeps us. We can't
claim nothing, can we? It's he that keeps us. It's he
that holds all things together. All things together. And then
we see verse 18 is tied in with verse 17, and Peter brings again
the remedy for being led astray by the scoffers. The remedy to
prevent being led away from the scoffers. Again, it's simple,
and it's remarkable, and yet it's profound. The safeguard
of every believer, protecting us from being led away by the
scoffer, is to look to Christ. Just to look to Christ. but grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. To him be glory, both now and
forever. Amen. I'll never forget what Brother
Henry Mahan said one time in a sermon. He said, we'll not
see our own growth. We'll not see our own growth
in the Lord. If one thinks we see our own growth, we're in
trouble. we'll never see it, but we'll see it in other people.
But we won't see it in ourselves. And this growth in grace here
is not supposedly growing in holiness because the believer
knows that in Christ we are sanctified, which means to be made holy.
We can't grow in that, we're sanctified in Christ. The scripture
declares this, that no flesh should glory in his presence,
but of him, being the believer, Are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
which is holiness, and redemption. Of him, in Christ, not in us,
in Christ. That according to his written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. See, he's our boast.
We boast in Christ, we don't boast in ourselves. That's 1
Corinthians 1, verses 29 to 31. So we see here in our text that
growth and grace is a fact. Now growth is progressive, it's
a progressive process. Have you ever noticed that the
Lord uses scriptures and uses words that we can understand? That we can understand. Words
that we can relate to. Words that apply to natural things,
that teach us spiritual truths. Birth, death, pruning and grafting,
hunger, thirst. We can relate to those things.
Now think of this growth, it's unique because it can only be
seen after it's taken place, after it's taken place. We see
that there has been progress that we're not able, but we're
not able to see the progress. And this growth is accomplished
by the provision of these things necessary to make it come to
pass, various foods, milk, water, other fluids. Now the nutrition
of spiritual growth, the nutrition of spiritual growth, that brings
about maturity is the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. As we grow in grace, we grow
to know more about him. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter
2. Again, if a person ever thinks
they have arrived or attained a higher spiritual plane than
others, they're in a world of trouble. Because the believer
in Christ, what do we still desire? The sincere milk of the word. We just desire to hear the gospel.
We desire to hear about Christ. Tell us about Christ. And in
Him is all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And I'll tell
you this, you can never exhaust what you know about Christ. He's
an everlasting mind, just full of jewels. Look at this in 1
Peter 2, verses 2 and 3. As newborn babes desire the sincere
milk of the word, that she may grow thereby. So be that you
have tasted that the Lord is gracious. So it's a constant
preaching of Christ, a constant hearing of the gospel, and that
casts our eyes upon Christ, beloved. And this is the teaching which
nourishes and strengthens our spirit. It renews our mind and
encourages our heart and makes us to grow. Because what does
the gospel do? It constantly reminds us of our
need, doesn't it? I need Christ more now than I've
ever needed him before. Ever. Ever. My need grows and
grows. Does yours? It just grows, doesn't
it? We need him more and more. And as we learn about who he
is and his magnificence, again, it just leaves us in awe. It
just leaves us in awe of who he is. What a great God. What a great savior is Jesus
Christ. Heavenly Father, we thank you
again for allowing us to gather together, allowing us to look
into thy word, oh Lord. Pray that we who are your people
will leave rejoicing and praising God for who you are, Lord. Praising
the Father for sending you to die on the cross for our sins. Glory to you, Lord. You are so
magnificent. We love you again because you
first loved us. In Jesus' name, amen.