3, Colossians chapter 3. Tonight the name of the message
is Instruction for Christian Homes. Instruction for Christian
Homes. Our text will be found in, I'm
going to try to get through it all from 18 to 21, 18 to 21. But let's read the context of
our scripture. It'll be verses 16 to 24. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. Whatsoever you do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus,
given thanks to God and the Father by Him. Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands,
love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey
your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the
Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they
be discouraged. Servants, obey in all things
your masters according to the flesh. not with eye service as
man pleases, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever
you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not on the man,
knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the
inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. Tonight. We'll be looking at Paul. Putting
forth instruction for the Christian home. where the husband and the wife
profess Christ. And before we do that, let us
review our verse last week, which was verse 17. And whatsoever
you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
given thanks to God and the Father by Him. So everything we do,
everything we do, is to be done in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, for His glory. So when we go to work, or whatever
we do, wherever we go, we're to do it in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ and for His glory, with thanksgiving to the Father,
as our position and our acceptance is in Christ and Him alone. And
note it says, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving
thanks to God and the Father by Him. Because again, it is
through Him, it is through Him that we have acceptance with
the Father. And it is in Him that we're able to even stand
in the midst of the Father, before the Heavenly Father. So whether
in preaching, whether in singing, whether in praying, whether in
teaching, or in conversation with other believers, let us
do all that we do in the name of Christ and for His glory.
Let Him be the center. Let him be magnified. Whether
in the home or on the job or in any of the businesses, business
where we may work or social contacts, let us do it all for the name
of Christ and for his glory. In doing all things for his name
and for his glory, we'll bring unity of heart among believers.
It'll cement believers because our love for Christ is what brings
us together, isn't it? And it's Christ alone who brings
us together. The reason we gather here together
is to hear Christ preached and proclaimed. It's because we have
a love for Christ. We have a love for the gospel.
And who's the gospel all about? Now you may go places, or people
may go places and they may hear the name Jesus, but the gospel's
not being preached there, beloved. The gospel will be preached here,
Lord willing, every time a man steps into the pulpit. Because
that's what we desire to hear. That's what we want. We want
to hear Christ crucified and Him alone. I read a thing by
Joe Tarrow, I think it said, preaching Christ simply and nothing
else. That's it. That's it right there. That is who we want to hear proclaimed,
is Christ and Him alone. And we are to do all things for
His name and His glory and it will bring unity of heart among
believers. In Christian homes it will It will drive out divisions
and strife if we do all things for God's glory, not for selfish
purposes. When we first started this chapter,
I gave us an overview, and I'm going to go over it now quickly,
an overview that Brother Mahan brought out, where he had broken
down this chapter into five sections. The first was one to four, where
we see our attitude towards the material world and towards spiritual
things, in verses one to four. We're to set our minds upon Christ
and him alone. We're to keep our eyes focused
upon Him, not upon circumstances that are going on, because whenever
we do that, me especially, I get all worked up. No, I'm to keep
my mind on Christ. That's why He says to set your
heart and your mind, your affection and your mind upon Him, upon
heavenly things, which is Christ. He's in the heavenlies. We are
to set our minds and hearts to Him. In verses 5 to 9, we see
our attitude towards sin and toward the flesh and toward the
old man and towards his deeds. We're to put off, put off the
flesh, put off the old man. Malice, anger, wrath, blasphemy,
filthy communication out of our mouth. We're not to lie to one
another. We're to put off the old man
and his deeds. And in verses 10 to 15, we see
our attitude toward other people. Our attitude toward other people.
In verses 16 and 17, we have our attitude towards the word
of God, toward worship, and toward the ministry of the word. To
do all things for the glory of God. in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ and Him alone. That's why you constantly hear
me say we're gonna give Him all the glory and all the honor and
all the praise, because that's how we're supposed to be. We're
supposed to give it all to Him. He has the preeminence. He has
the preeminence, beloved. Now, verses 18 to 25, we have
our attitude towards those to whom we are joined together in
human relationships. And tonight, we'll be beginning
the last section on our attitude towards those whom we are joined
to in human relations. And Paul here is exhorting the
Colossian believers and us tonight. And let's just jump right into
it. Paul brings forth before us in
verse 18, Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it
is fit in the Lord. The verb translated submit here
carries the implication of voluntarily yieldedness to a recognized authority. Now biblical submission. Biblical
submission is appropriate through the scriptures in several circumstances.
Not just here, but in several circumstances, beloved. Number
one. The wife to her husband, which
is mentioned here and also in Ephesians 5, 22 and 24, which
we'll be looking at later on. Number two, children to their
parents. Ephesians 6, 1 says this, children obey your parents
and the Lord for this is right. Number three, believers to the
elders of the church. Obey them that have rule over
you and submit yourself for they watch for your souls as they
must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief. For that is unprofitable for
you. Hebrews 13, 17, and then over in First Thessalonians 5,
12 and 13, it says this. And we besiege you, brethren,
to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord
and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for
their work's sake. and be at peace among yourselves.
And then we are to submit as citizens to the state, as citizens
to the state in Romans 13 verses 1 and 2 it says this, that every
soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power
but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever
therefore resists the power resists the ordinance of God, and they
that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. And then
servants, employees, Brother John, you are submissive to your
employer. You're your boss. Same with Brother
Tim and Sister Bonnie. You're submissive to your employees.
And Kara, you're submissive to your employers. So that's another
one, too. We are to be submissive to our employers, to our masters,
they're called. In scripture, it says, servants,
be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good
and to gentle, but also to the forward. Vicki and I, when we
had our cleaning business, we were servants to the people that
we, that's just another way of saying it. It was our own business.
We worked on our own, but we were subservient to the people
that we were working for. We had to do what they wanted
to do, as long as it didn't go against what God says in his
word. And also, every believer is to
be in humble service to one another. Ephesians 5.21 says this, submitting
yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Same word, same
word. And also think of this. When
our Lord was upon this earth, he was submissive to the Father's
will. He was submissive to the Father's
will. He says this in John 5 30. I can have my own self do nothing
as I hear it. I judge and my judgment is just
because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father, which
has sent me. And then Luke, he said this,
and he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast and kneeled
down and prayed, kneeled down and prayed. saying, Father, if
thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not
my will, but thy will be done. He's submissive to the Father,
beloved. So submission is a biblical principle. And it's, as I said,
the verb translated carries the implication of voluntary yieldness
to a recognized authority. We also do that with Christ,
don't we? We submit to his authority when he saves us, we submit to
him. He's our Lord. We don't make Him Lord, He's
already Lord. But we bow our knee to His authority in our
lives. So we see that submission is
a biblical principle, and the believer submits to Christ, ruling
in our lives, working all things out for our good and for His
purpose. Now let us remember this too, that God gives grace
and strength to his people as we saw in verse 17. We are to
do all things to the glory of God in Christ's name. And God
is the one who strengthens us and gives us the grace to do
that. And God gives us the strength
and the grace to submit to those in authority over us. So let us remember this as we
examine the next verse. The next verses is God will give
us grace and strength and power to the believer to carry out
the exhortations that are set here before us. 1 Corinthians
10.31 says, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever
you do, do all to the glory of God. All to the glory of God. So let's go back and look at
verse 17 in chapter 3. This is the key, actually. This
is the key right here. This is the key to the next verses
as well. Verse 17 gives us the purpose
in carrying out the exhortations that are to come, because it's
all for God's glory. We cannot explain verses 3.18
to 4.1 without verse 17. It's the key. It's the key. And whatsoever you do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God and the Father by him. Again, it all centers around
Christ, all of it. So with this in mind, let us
look at at the scriptures tonight. I'm hoping we'll get through
verses 18 to 21. It says in 18, wife, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Now God's
divine order is here set before us as the husband is the head
of the house, with Jesus Christ as the husband's head. Christ is the husband's head. He's the head of all of us. The
church, our families, Christ is the head. So wives here, it
says, are to be in subjection, they're to voluntarily yield
to the authority that God has established here. to their own
husbands in all things for the glory of Jesus Christ, who has
placed married women in that position in the household. And
those who rebel against God's divine order are rebelling against
God, are rebelling against God, because he's the one who set
this order up, beloved. He's the one who set this order
up. So now let us remember that submission spoken of in our text
is not grounded in any supposed superiority of the husband. OK, or inferiority of the wife. That's just not so. Because scripture
declares in Galatians 328, this there is neither Jew nor Greek,
there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ. And also in Peter, it says this.
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge,
giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, as being
heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not
hindered. So let's look at a few things
that submission is not. That is not submission. Submission
does not mean that a wife is obligated to follow her husband
should he lead her into sin. That's evident at the latter
part of this verse. as it is fit in the Lord. That's evident right before us.
So a wife is not obligated to follow her husband should he
lead her into sin. Neither does submission entail
silence. Husbands and wives make decisions
all through their marriage together. Together. The believing wife
submits to the husband's authority in the final decision. as long
as it is fit in the Lord. As long as it's fit in the Lord. And you remember the husbands
will make decisions or should make decisions with their wives
in mind. With their wives in mind. Leading
her in love. Leading her in love. Which will
then, if a husband leads his wife in love, your wife will
willingly submit to you. And this is what Christian men
are exhorted to do. Because the next verse, it lays it down for us guys. So a believing wife willingly
submits to God's biblical authority in the marriage. Submission is
the wife being in subjection to the husband as is fit in the
Lord, obeying Him, respecting His judgments and decisions,
and following His leadership as long as it does not violate
the Word of God. Jesus Christ must have preeminence
in all things, and to rebel against His divine order is to rebel
against our great God and King, saying we will not have Him to
have the preeminence in our lives. John Calvin comments on this
verse. Let us again remember that this is according to the
appointment of the Lord so that he can conforms the subjection
of wives by the authority of God. It's God's will that we're
together. It's God's will that that Brother
Chet. Yes, it's wonderful. So knowing
that, too, and same with you, Brother John and Sister, knowing
that it's it. It's incredible when you think
about that. It's absolutely incredible. Also, he requires love on the
part of the husbands to their wives, and they are not to be
bitter against them, lest they should abuse their authority
in the way of tyranny. We are not to be tyrants. That's
not scriptural. Not at all. And remember, too,
how it was when Paul was writing this, too. And it still goes
on today. You have men who are tyrants over their wives, and
it's not right at all. It's not right at all. Now, we know that in unsaved
folks that happens a lot, but especially in the household of
faith, we ought not to be that way. Especially we men, we love
and we cherish our brides just as Christ loved the church. Look at the next verse. Here
we go. This leads right into our next verse. Husbands, love
your wives and be not bitter against them. Now we see here that the Christian
husband is to cherish his wife because she's his beloved. His
beloved. The believing husband is not
to be a tyrant, demanding all he can get and throwing his weight
around. That happens a lot in the world. But we husbands are
to lead in love. We're to lead in love. Always
keeping in mind, we husbands are to lead in love, always keeping
in mind the glory of God. And the same with the wives,
submitting to the husbands, always keeping in mind the glory of
God, the glory of God. It's wonderful. And who are we
to glorify God in? Christ Jesus our Lord. And when
you have a believing wife and a believing husband and you're
both being redeemed, it's incredible. It's amazing. Let's go over to
Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter five. So the
husband's not to be a tyrant. And it ought not to even be so
with unsaved people. It just isn't right. It just
isn't right. Always keeping in mind, though,
the believing husband, always keeping in mind the glory of
God through the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we think about Christ
who loved us and gave himself for us. How much did Christ love
his bride? And that's the that's the point
that's coming across there. And we're going to see that in
Ephesians five. The point is, Christ loved his bride. Vicki's
my bride. Christ loved his bride unto death. Oh, we're to love them, thanking
God for our wives and loving them as Christ loved the church.
Okay, Ephesians chapter 5, look at verses 22. We're going to
read a large portion here. 22 to 33. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as unto the Lord. So the same as when we're
at work, we're doing our work unto the Lord, aren't we? No
matter what we do, we're to do it unto the Lord, whether, and
I'm not equating being a husband or a wife to a job, not at all,
but we are to be, we are to love our wives who are to submit themselves
unto their husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the
head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. So
here's the order that God's established, right? And he is the savior of
the body. Christ is the savior of the body. Christ is the one who saves his
bride, and all the elect of all the ages are the bride of Christ.
And he is the Savior of the body. That means all his people that
were given to him by the Father in eternity. Therefore, as the
church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their
own husbands in everything. Now look at this though. Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave
himself for it. that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present
it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish,
so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. We're one. Twain shall become one. We're
united. We're united. But he that loveth
his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord
the Church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
the two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let
every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself,
and the wives see that she reverence her husband. Okay, take note
of verse 25 here. For we husbands, look at this,
husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it. This verse beloved before us
in Ephesians 5 25. This verse is testimony to the
greatness of the love of Christ for his people, the greatness. And it should so be for a husband
with his wife to. Look at the greatness, look at
the greatness of the love of Christ for his people, husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave
himself for it. He gave himself for his people.
On Calvary's cross, this love, beloved, is a sacrificial love.
It's a sacrificial love. He gave all for his for the church.
He gave all for his bride. He gave all. Dying on the cross
is our substitute. This is a sincere love, one of
constant affection, constant affection. Remember Christ delights
in his bride and we husbands who are believers are to delight
in our wives, treating our wives with kindness, respect, and we
are to defend them before all. Whether it be parents, children,
or those who would discredit her or abuse her. I remember
one time my mom made accusation about my bride. And I was on
the phone with her and I had to say, mom, I have to hang up
now because you're wrong. And I hung up and the next day
she called me back apologizing. I will defend my bride to the
end. And this is how it should be
for we who are husbands with our wives, whether it be children,
parents, or anyone discredit our bride, we stand up for them. But think of this in the text,
though. Again, and I can't get over this, the greatness of the
love of Christ for his people. So great is the love of Christ
for his people that he, the sinless one, hung upon Calvary's cross. And our sins, the sins of all
His people, the sins of His bride, every single one of them, billions
upon billions upon billions of sins, were placed upon our King. And He bore the price for every
single one of them. The sinless sacrifice. Our sins are imputed to Him.
The perfect spotless Lamb of God dying in our place. He gave Himself for us. And His perfect righteousness
is imputed to us. Given to us. Given to us. And Christ did this because he
loved the church. He loves his people. And think
of the greatness of the love of God in Christ. Think of the everlastingness
of this love. He still loves us now. He loved
us in eternity. He loved us when he was hanging
upon that cross. and He willingly gave Himself
for His people. There's no love like this. That's
sacrificial love. Husband and wife are one in the
Lord and must not suffer this union to be broken, either in
their own eyes or the eyes of others, particularly their children.
And no home can be built for Christ's glory for our good,
if we are willing to, if we are pulling our separate selfish
ways. Beloved, we are to walk together in love and affection. We are to seek the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also had loved
us, and hath given himself for us, for us, and offering And
the sacrifice to God, who had we sinned against? God. Who does Christ offer himself
up in our place to? God. It's amazing. What love, beloved, what love. hath given himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smell and Savior."
Ephesians 5, 1 and 2. Now our text continues in verse
20 and 21 in Colossians chapter 3. It says, Children, obey your
parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Verse 20, Children are exhorted
to obey their parents in all things, as this is pleasing unto
the Lord. Children, obey your parents in
all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." The
children of believers are to obey their parents. They're not
to dishonor their parents. They're to honor their father
and mother and to respect them and respect their decisions.
They are to speak respectfully of them. Because this is well
pleasing unto the Lord. Scripture declares this in Exodus
2012. Honor thy father and thy mother
and that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee. Now, note here. And we're note
here. That children do not need to
be encouraged to rebel. No, they don't need to be encouraged
to rebel against authority because that just comes naturally. It
does. I was watching a video of two
little babies the other day. And these two little babies,
the one guy was sitting there, and he had one of those plugs
in his mouth. We call them plugs. He had a plug in his mouth. And
the other little guy looked like his twin brother was reaching
over and grabbing the pacifier and taking it out and putting
it in his mouth. And the other guy started crying. And he's
reaching over, trying to get it off of him. He gets it out,
sticks it back in his mouth. And the other guy starts crying.
So this went on. The video went on for about a
minute or two. doing this back and forth, and I think it was
Brother Tim James who wrote, no need to question depravity
in humans after that one. And it's true, because we're
born sinners, we're born selfish, we're born, that's how we are,
that's how we are. So kids don't need to be encouraged
to rebel, it comes naturally. Now there are two dangerous directions
we take in raising children, either being too hard and unreasonable
with them, or being too indulgent and easy with them. Both ways
will spoil a child and make them rebellious. Both ways will. May
we parents seek God's will and not our own in raising our children.
And may we seek God's glory and not our own. And may we seek
God's tenderness in dealing with our children as well. May we
never forget. Turn if you would to Hebrews
chapter 12. May we never forget that we who believe all come
into this world with a sinful, rebellious spirit at enmity with
God. So in raising our children, let
us never forget the awful pit that God has delivered us from. Hebrews 12, verses 5 to 8. And ye have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto children, My son, despise not thou chastening
of the Lord, when thou would rebuked of him, for whom the
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
The Lord chastens his children. We chasten our children. If you
endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what
son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons.
So this leads to our last verse that we would like to look at
tonight. Look at this in Colossians 3.21, which says this. Fathers,
provoke not your children unto anger, lest they be discouraged.
Now, we fathers like to joke around with our kids and sometimes
get them riled up. Here we have an exhortation that
we are not to provoke our children to anger, lest they be discouraged. A loving, chastening hand from
the father of a child is one thing, but provoking our children
to anger is quite another thing. Now some parents, again, are
too lenient with their children, letting them do whatever they
want to do, or never correcting them, or wanting to be their
best friends. But we are called, we who are parents, are called
the parent of children. And there are some, though, who abuse parental
authority by being too hard on them. And some people, when they
punish their child, scream at the top of their lungs while
they're disciplining them, and that's wrong, too. That's wrong,
too. Some people provoke their children
by demeaning them, by demeaning them with harsh words, demeaning
them with harsh words which actually contradict the words, I love
you. It really does. And then some compare, and I
know some who have went through this, some compare their kids
to their siblings and say, you're never going to amount to nothing.
Or you're never going to be like your brothers or sisters. Why
can't you be like them? That ain't right either. Because
each one of us is individuals, aren't we? Each one of us is
individuals with different strengths and different weaknesses. A good
verse to look at is Ephesians chapter 6, turn there if you
would, verse 4. And I'd like to close with this
and then I'll say a few words on this verse. But look at this. And this is good for us to remember
with our children. Ephesians 6, verse 4. And ye
fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We are to raise our children
in the admonition of the Lord, instructing them in the knowledge
of divine things. Tell them of the great things
that God has done for us. Now, sometimes they might not
want to hear it, but we should still tell them. Tell them the
great things that God's done for us. What mercy He's had upon
us. And we live our lives, we who
are believers live our lives before our children daily, daily. They see our good times and they
see our bad times. And we are to raise them up though,
nurture them in the admiration of the Lord. Pray for them and
pray with them. We are to teach them and admonish
them in the things of Christ. Telling them of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ and how salvation is holy in Him. And we don't just say this to
our children, we tell everyone. Family members, friends. When
the Lord opens the door, and that's the thing, don't try to
force the door open. When I was in religion, I used
to try to force a door open to talk to people. Don't. Let the Lord open it. And you'll
know when He opens the door. You have freedom and liberty
to speak about Christ and Him alone. So we are to teach our
children and admonish them in the things of Christ, telling
them of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and how salvation
is holy in Him, nowhere else. We are to admonish them and tell
them of the work of Christ, which He accomplished as our substitute
upon Calvary's cross. We are to tell them of how Christ
died for sinners. And we are to tell them of how
He died and He was buried. We're to tell them of His resurrection. And we're to tell them of how
He's seated right now at the right hand of the Father, in
majesty, in power. We are to admonish them and tell
them of Christ's work. of what Christ accomplished as
our substitute. He paid it all. He paid it all. We are to tell them of how Christ
died for sinners. And we are to tell them of how
his death, burial, and resurrection, in accordance with the Scripture,
and for the remission of the sins of His people. We are to
tell them that redemption is in Christ and Him alone, and
that He has accomplished by His obedience, by His obedience,
living under the law of God perfectly for His people, to fulfill all
righteousness. and of His sacrifice as a substitutionary
atonement He gave Himself for us, for His people. He paid the price for the sins
of all His people, satisfying the Father's wrath. We are to
tell them that this Gospel is the power of God unto salvation,
that salvation is of the Lord, Completely. Completely. And that when we are weak in
our weakness, he is strong. We are to tell him that we cannot
save ourselves. We cannot save ourselves, but
God can save all who come to Christ. And we are to admonish them and
tell them That God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this
world to save sinners. And we are to ask them. Ask them. If they know that they're sinners,
we're to pray that God would show them that they are. We're
to tell them that Christ is the mediator of His people. And that
he right now sits at the right hand of God advocating for his
sheep. And we are to tell them of this
wondrous salvation in and through Christ Jesus alone. And how the
believer in Christ has all their sins forgiven. Not just some,
but all of them. And that all who have faith in
Christ have eternal salvation and live by faith all through
the rest of their time here on this earth. We had to tell them
those things and then prayerfully leave them in the Lord's hands.
Leave them in the Lord's hands. Just as we do for our family
members. Just as we do for our friends. Just as we do for our
fellow workers. We tell them the great things
the Lord had done for us. praying for their salvation. Christ alone, Christ alone, beloved,
is the sole means and instrument of our salvation. It is not about
what we do or about what we've done. Now religion tells you
it's all about what you do. That's a lie. Now God's people will fight and
battle and struggle against sin. And we know that we don't have
a license to go crazy, right? Because when you say something
like that, when you make a statement about it's not about what we
do, people right away say you're an antinomian. No, I'm not. No. The love of Christ constrains
me from sin. And it does every believer. And
if we preach and proclaim what Christ has done, then the love of Christ will
constrain believers. So it's not about what we do
or what we've done, beloved. It is about what Christ alone
has done. what he accomplished on calvary's
cross where he is right now seated at the right hand of the father
and the only reason we will one day be with him is because what
he's done for us and god's people just praise his name praise his
name may god bless the preaching of his word for his glory and
his honor and his praise gracious heavenly father we come before
thee Oh, thankful Lord Jesus for all that you have done. For
all that you have done, for we sin. Soul sin, six sinners is
what we are, we're. But yet you've had mercy upon
your people. The Lord Jesus Christ died as our substitute upon Calvary's
cross. Lord Jesus, we just marvel. Marvel
that you, God, incarnate in the flesh. the sinless one, the perfect
one, the spotless one, would die for sinners. But Lord, that's
the only way we could be redeemed. That's the only way we could
be justified. It's the only way we could be sanctified, is in
and through you. And we give you all the glory,
in Jesus' name, amen.