Let's open our Bibles again to
John chapter 20. I've entitled the message this morning,
Peace in His Scars. You remember what's been happening
here in our study in John. Lord Jesus has been crucified.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid his body in the tomb. And
the disciples found out three days later the Lord's body is
not in the tomb. And despite the Lord's teaching
to them, they did not automatically think the Lord's risen, just
like he said he would. They didn't know what happened.
They thought maybe somebody stole his body. Maybe somebody moved
his body. They didn't know. Mary Magdalene came and told
him, I've seen the Lord. The Lord appeared to me. And
you know, the disciples didn't believe her. Luke says it seemed
to them as idle tales. Now that same day, The day that
the Lord had arisen, the day he appeared to Mary Magdalene,
the day he appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the very
day that Luke said it seemed like idle tales to them, the
disciples didn't believe the Lord had arisen. That very day,
verse 19, that same day at evening, being the first day of the week
when the doors were shut, where the disciples assembled for fear
of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst said unto them,
peace be unto you. Now this is the first day of
the week, Sunday. The disciples met together. I
guess they were going to compare, you know, their thoughts and
ideas about what had happened. They met together to talk about
the Lord. And this is why the church today
meets on Sunday on the first day of the week, because this
is the day the disciples met on the first day of the week.
And beginning with the early church, they always met together
for worship on Sunday, the first day of the week, the day that
the Lord arose. They didn't meet together on
Saturday, on the Sabbath day anymore, like the Jews did, because
now the law is over. Christ has put an end to that
law. So we meet to worship, not out
of law, we meet to worship the risen Savior on the first day
of the week. This is the day he arose again
for our justification. So there they were in this room.
The doors were barred shut. When this word here says that
the doors were shut, means that they were barred shut. I mean,
they had several locks on this thing, bars. They didn't want
anybody coming in. They met with those doors barred
shut because they were afraid. They're afraid the Jews would
come take them, do the same thing to them that they'd done to the
Lord. They didn't want that to happen to them. And then in the
midst of this weak faith and this strong fear, The Lord Jesus
Christ appeared to them. Even in their weak faith and
their strong fear, he appeared. He fulfilled his promise, didn't
he? He told them where two or three are gathered together in
my name, there am I in the midst of them. And he appeared in the
midst of them. Now our Lord didn't just appear
out of thin air. He appeared as a real man and
a real man can't appear out of thin air. That door must have
opened. It was barred shut, but it must
have opened to him. There's no door that's man shut
that God can't open. That door opened to him and he
walked in and appeared in the midst of them. He didn't just
walk through that door like a ghost would, because he's not a ghost. Look in Luke chapter 24. He didn't
appear to them as a ghost and just walk through the walls or
through the door. He appeared as a real man. In Luke 24, Verse 36. And as they thus spake, Jesus
himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, peace
be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted.
I mean, the Lord says peace, and they're terrified and affrighted.
They suppose they'd seen a spirit. And he said unto them, why are
you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold
my hands and my feet. that it is I myself. Handle me
and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me
have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and
his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy and wondered,
he said unto them, have you here any meat? And they gave him a
piece of a broad fish and of an honeycomb. And he took it
and did eat it before them. See, a ghost wouldn't have flesh
and bones. You couldn't feel a ghost. The Lord had flesh and
bones, they could feel him, they could touch him. A ghost can't
eat, but our Lord did. And he did that to show them
he appeared to them as a real man. You know what he's showing
them? He's showing them that he suffered
and that he died and he rose again to save real men, to save
real sinful men and women, boys and girls. He appeared to them
as a real man. Now Luke and John both record
that the Lord showed them his scars. He said, peace be unto
you. And immediately he showed them the scars in his body, his
hands and his feet. Why did he do that? Well, here's
my first point. The Lord showed them his scars
to give them a declaration of the gospel of peace. There are
several reasons why the Lord showed them his scars. First,
the Savior showed them his scars so they'd recognize it really
was him. That's why he said, Luke, it's
really me. See my scars. This is the one who had suffered
and died, who was crucified for the sin of his people. Desi Maynard
used to sing a song, I'll be looking for scars up in heaven.
Scars that love held on the tree. Scars that turned judgment to
mercy for a hell-deserving sinner like me. I'm gonna look for those
same scars. Because by those scars, you can
always identify the Savior. He's got those scars in His hands,
in His feet, in His side. It's really Him, the one who
was crucified for our sin. And you know, those will be the
only scars in heaven. Any of us that have any scars
in our body, we won't have them in glory. Everybody there will
be in a perfect body. The only scars that will be in
heaven are the scars that Christ received as he was crucified
for the sins of his people. Look at Revelations chapter 5.
You remember when the Apostle John got that vision of glory
and he said he saw a lamb as it had been slain. What he saw
is the evidence still in glory, those scars, that Christ was
crucified for the sin of his people. He was crucified as a
sacrifice for sin. And those scars that the Savior
bears in glory will be his greatest glory in heaven. Those scars
are gonna be a constant reminder. This is how God showed mercy
to his people, by sacrificing his son for their sin. In Romans
5, verse 9, this is what they sing. All those gathered together
in glory, that innumerable host, and they sung a new song, saying,
thou art worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof, for
thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation and has made
us unto our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth.
And those scars that enter the body of our Lord Jesus Christ
will be a constant reminder for us to sing that song. That's
why we're here. He was slain for us. He shed
his blood to put away our sin and make us accepted in this
place. The second reason the Savior showed the disciples the
scars in his body is so we would know salvation in Christ is sure. He showed them his hands and
his feet. He showed them those scars. They
saw the Lord crucified. This is Christ crucified for
my sin. He died. When he was crucified,
he died. But here he stands. He arose
from the dead. Well, if he arose from the dead,
I know my sin is gone because the father accepted his sacrifice.
Why did Christ die? Christ died because his own father
put him to death in justice. Christ died because he was made
sin for his people and he died as the sinner substitute. The
law demands death for sin. The only reason the father would
raise him from the dead is injustice. He raised him from the dead because
the blood of Christ put all that sin away. All the sin that was
charged to Christ is gone. And when we see Christ risen,
we know salvation in Him is sure. He died. He died the death that
I deserve for my sin. And His righteousness, His perfect
obedience is given to me. So because he rose, I see I'm
as righteous as Christ himself. Salvation in Christ is sure. Those scars in our Savior's body
are the evidence of his perfect obedience that he imputes to
his people. He was obedient even unto death. That's what those scars show
us. He was obedient even unto death and his obedience is the
obedience of his people. The obedience that he imputes
to us. And if anyone in heaven would ever ask you, what right
do you have to be here? All you've got to do is point
to the scars in the hands and the feet and the side of the
Savior. Salvation is sure in him. His sacrifice put my sin
away. That's my right to be here. The
third reason the Savior showed his scars to his people. is to
show us even though we don't deserve it. We have such weak
faith and such strong fear, even though we don't deserve it. He
showed us another great evidence of his love for his people. What
love? The son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ would agree to be made sin for his people and to suffer
and die for that sin. He rose showing us the evidence
of His sacrifice, showing us He always has loved His people
and He'll never stop. And then this, here's the reason,
the Savior showed them His scars. So we would have a declaration
of the gospel of peace. He gave us a declaration that
peace, peace with God, is only found in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace is all in Christ. When he was born, what did the
angels sing? Peace, peace on earth, goodwill toward men. And
when our Lord arose from the grave, what did he announce?
Peace be unto you. Peace is all in Christ. Our Lord
Jesus appeared in the midst of his disciples, in the midst of
all that fear, and he said, peace be unto you. And immediately
he showed them his scars. And he did that to show us the
foundation of peace. What's the foundation of peace
with God? It can only be the sacrifice of Christ for our sins,
isn't that right? That's why he showed them the
evidence of his sacrifice, his scars that he received as he
was crucified for the sins of his people. Peace with God cannot
be found in our faith. Peace with God cannot be found
in our courage. our courage to stand for Christ.
All of that was lacking at this time, wasn't it? All of it was
lacking. The disciples were in a locked
room for fear of the Jews. They'd all deserted the Lord.
They ran and hid. They didn't deserve for the Lord
to give them peace, did he? None of them did. But you know
what? We don't either. What sinner
deserves peace with God because of what we've done? Nobody. We don't have peace with God
because of what we've done or what we haven't done. Sinners
have peace with God in our Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with
God because his blood put our sin away. The blood of his sacrifice. The scars in his hands and in
his feet show us how he died. He died a cursed death. Cursed
is everyone that hangeth upon a tree. Christ died being made
a curse for his people. And he bore that curse away.
So none of his people are under the curse anymore. You're not
under the curse, you're in Christ. And like I said, in heaven, the
only evidence of our sin, the only evidence of our sin will
be the scars in our Savior's hands and feet and in his side. A constant reminder, we did have
sin, we were born in sin, but the death of Christ, his sacrifice,
his blood put our sin away. The scar that's forever on the
side of our Savior shows us all of God's people have been cleansed
from all of their sin. We've been washed in the double
cure that flowed from that side, made from that scar. When that
soldier pierced his side, Outflowed, John said, blood and water. Outflowed
blood to cleanse us from all of our sin, from the guilt of
sin. And outflowed water to cleanse us from the nature of sin. Outflowed
water to cause us to be born again with a new nature that
has no sin. Then our Savior, he's giving
us a declaration of the gospel of peace. He showed him his hands
and his feet so we would know. He always gets what He prays
for when He intercedes with His Father for His people. When Christ
pleads with His Father, He intercedes for us. He always pleads one
thing. He never pleads, well, they didn't
mean it. He never pleads they won't do
it again. No, He always pleads His sacrifice for His elect.
He says, Father, forgive them. And he pleads with his father,
shows his father his hands and his feet. And his father says,
forgiven. All is forgiven because of the
precious blood of my son. Our salvation is sure in him.
Then the Lord showed them his hands and his feet. So we know
we're always secure in his hand. That hand is the hand of almighty
God. The hand of God Almighty has
a scar in it. Blood flowed from that hand. Surely the blood of God is powerful
enough to cleanse me from all my sin. Surely it is. The blood
of God is the foundation of our hope that our sin is gone. What
better foundation of peace could you ever want than God in the
person of his son, shed his blood to put your sin away. That's
a good foundation. Our Lord said, no man's able
to pluck my people from my hand. Why not? It's because of the
power of the sacrifice of Christ, the blood that flowed from his
hands. And he shows us those scars as
a constant reminder, his blood is powerful enough to save us
and to keep us safe, to bring us all the way to glory. Our
Lord showed His hands and His feet those scars to His disciples
so we would know we're eternally secure in Him. He'll never forsake
the work of His own hands. The Savior will never forget
anyone that He died for. He's got a constant reminder
of His people engraved in His hands and in His feet. The scars
that appear on our Savior's body guarantees peace with God for
everyone that Christ died for. See, let me say it again. Peace
with God never comes from anything we do. Peace with God is always
and only in the blood of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. John records this first appearance
of the Savior to the disciples. You notice he doesn't record
any rebuke from our Savior. Not one. There's no rebuke. No
rebuke for abandoning Him. No rebuke for their lack of faith.
No rebuke for their strong fear. All John records for us is the
forgiveness of sin and peace with God found in the blood and
the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. I often say how thankful
I am God's not like me. If the Lord Jesus was like me,
he appeared to his disciples, you know what he said? Shame
on you. What did the Lord say? Peace
be unto you. All is forgiven in my sacrifice
that we're reminded of every time we see those scars. Peace
be unto you. Now sinner, I want you to listen
to me. Listen to me carefully. The war is over. Peace has been
made through the sacrifice of Christ. Now you quit your rebellion. You quit your own works. Your
own works are rebellion, open rebellion against God. Your own
works are not something that's going to make God a little more
pleased with you or make him happy with you. No. Your works
are open rebellion against the righteousness of Christ. You
quit your rebellion and you surrender to Christ and you'll have peace
for your soul. The war's over. Stack your arms
and surrender to Christ. Isaiah said in Isaiah 53 verse
five, the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his
stripes were healed. Surrender the war's over. This
is a deck. The scars in our savior's body
is a declaration of the gospel of peace. Here's my second point. Believers, those that God has
given a heart of faith to, they have a reaction to the gospel
of peace. That's universal. That reaction
is gladness. Look at the end of verse 20.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Can you
imagine how glad they were? It's the Lord, oh my goodness. Now, the Lord's not gonna appear
to you and me the way he appeared to these disciples. He doesn't
appear in bodily form anymore, he's risen. So how will God's
disciples be made glad today? Well, it's through the same way.
It's by seeing Christ, but not in a bodily form. It's by hearing
Christ preached, by seeing Christ in his word. Christ appears to
his people today through preaching, through the preaching of Christ,
through the preaching of the gospel. Look at Psalm 34 and
that reaction. Every time we, by God's grace,
are enabled to see Christ, our Savior, the reaction is gladness. The preaching of Christ makes
the heart of God's people glad. You know, I don't get to listen
to preaching very much anymore. I'm telling you, Wednesday night,
I drove home on air so glad because Christ was preached. I got to
hear Christ preached and it strengthened my heart, strengthened my faith.
That's the universal reaction of a believer. We see Christ
is to be glad. Psalm 34, verse one. David says,
I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof. The humble shall hear of the
Lord and be glad. David said, I was glad when they
said unto me, let's go into the house of the Lord. Let's go to
the place where Christ is preached. That makes my heart glad. And if hearing about Christ does
not make your heart glad, then you've never seen your sinner.
If seeing Christ in the gospel does not give your heart peace,
then you've never seen yourself as a rebel. Janet and I were
up in Lexington, Todd's Road, Grace Church, Sunday evening.
Brother Nybert made a profound statement. profound in its truth,
and it's profound in its simplicity. I suppose if you want to be profound,
just be simple. This is so simple, but so profound. This is what he said. The gospel
will only be a blessing to you if you listen to it as a sinner.
We'll only get a blessing from hearing the gospel preached if
we hear as a sinner. Now you think about that. That's
true, isn't it? The gospel is only good news
to sinners. The gospel only has a blessing
for sinners. The gospel only declares peace
with God for sinners. If we listen critically, we won't
get a blessing. If we listen as a know-it-all,
I told you in the lesson this morning about a big part of worship
is being instructed, coming to be instructed. Well, if we listen
as a know-it-all, we're not gonna get any blessing. But if we listen
to the gospel as a sinner, we'll get a blessing. This is the gladness
the disciples felt. If we listen to the gospel and
we don't get, or we listen to preaching, and we don't get a
blessing, one of two things is true. Either it's not the gospel
or I didn't listen to the sinner. One of those two. I didn't talk,
I didn't say that, but that's good anyway. Well, am I a believer? You wonder,
am I a believer? Well, does hearing the truth
that nothing you do can give you peace with God, but the sacrifice
of Christ gives you complete, eternal peace with God, does
that make you glad? If you answer yes to that, then
you're a believer. The only people that get a blessing
from that, the only people that are glad from that, are those
that have been given faith in Christ. And if that statement
doesn't make you glad, then you're not a believer. If that statement
doesn't make you glad, I implore you to beg God for mercy, to
give you peace with God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The gospel of peace makes God's people glad. Third, Christ gives
men the commission to go preach this gospel of peace. Verse 21,
then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto As my Father has
sent me, even so send I you." Now the Savior repeats this phrase,
peace be unto you. We're going to know this now.
We have peace with God through his sacrifice that we see evidence
of in his scars. But he also repeats this phrase,
peace be unto you. so that we'll know exactly the
gospel that he sent us to preach. It's the gospel of peace, not
the gospel of wars. It's the gospel of peace. And
only men, only men can go preach this gospel of peace. And it's
men that God equips and sends to preach the gospel. And thank
God he does. Thank God he does send weak,
sinful men to go preach the gospel to weak, sinful men and women. And you think about it, only
men can preach the gospel of peace. If angels, if God sent
angels to preach the gospel, they could tell the truth, couldn't
they? But they could never preach the gospel in compassion that
a man, a sinful man who's been forgiven of his sin can preach
with. Angel couldn't do that. Angels could never preach with
sympathy and understanding for the lost that a sinful man has. Angels could never preach the
gospel with the same joy and the same gladness that a sinful
man can preach with. Because angels, they don't understand
the experience of grace in the heart. An angel doesn't understand
the wonder of Christ coming in their nature. that Christ came
and was their brother, like we talked about in the lesson this
morning. Because he didn't take on him the nature of angels,
did he? He took on him the seed of Abraham. An angel can't understand
that wonder. An angel doesn't understand the
joy of the new birth. They don't understand the warfare
that goes on between old man and the new man. They don't understand
that about the new birth. An angel can't understand the
forgiveness of sin. An angel can't proclaim forgiveness
of sin in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ with the same joy
and the same fervor that a man can. A sinful man who's been
washed from his sin in the blood of Christ, who's accepted in
Christ our righteousness. An angel can't preach that with
the same courage and the same conviction and also the same
compassion that a sinful man can. So Christ sends out men
to preach the gospel. Now, primarily, Christ came in
the flesh to be the representative of sinful men. He came so he'd
be the substitute for sinful men. Look at Hebrews chapter
four. You know, Christ also came in
the flesh as a man so that he could sympathize with us in the
weakness of our flesh. Hebrews 4 verse 15. We have not, and high priest,
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted as like as we are yet without
sin. Christ came in the flesh. So he sympathizes with us and
he sends out his preachers to do the same thing, to preach
with compassion and sympathy for the lost. Christ sends out
His preachers in the same way that the Father sent Him. He
doesn't send us with the same power, certainly not with the
same deity, but it's in the same manner and for the same purpose
that He came, that the Father sent Him. The way that the Father
sent the Son and the way the Son sends out His preachers,
they're alike in many ways. Let me give you five of them.
First, both Christ and His preachers are both sent with the same divine
authority. They're sent from God. Second,
Christ and his preachers are both sent to the same place,
sent to the world, the world of people. Third, both Christ
and his preachers, they're both sent to the same people, were
sent to the same place and to the same people, were sent to
preach the gospel to sinners, to sinners. Fourth, both Christ
and his preachers are going to be hated by this world. If this
is a gospel, the gospel of peace is contrary to the flesh. So
we're hated by the world, but that's all right. Fifth, both
Christ and his preachers, their sin for this purpose, to preach
the gospel of peace, that there's peace with God and our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now Christ came, he gives that
peace, didn't he? He came, he gives it. We don't
have that power. but we do come to preach it,
to preach peace in Christ. That's the commission that we've
received, to preach the gospel of peace. Fourth, when Christ
gives men this commission to preach the gospel, he qualifies
them for the job. Verse 22 in our text of John
chapter 20. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost.
Now the apostles, They received these gifts of the Spirit. Apparently
at this time, much like Adam received the breath of life,
God breathed into him the breath of life. And the way this reads,
Christ breathed into them the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And
the apostles received the gifts of the Spirit and these things
that the Lord only gave his apostles. The apostles could perform miracles. And they could perform miracles
so that people would know God was with them and they listened
to him. Remember that time that deadly
serpent bit Paul and he just shook it off into the fire and
the people waiting for him to die and he didn't? So they listened
to him preach because they said, God must be with this man. That's
why they could perform those miracles. The apostles spoke
in languages that they never learned. So the gospel could
go to every nation in every language. The disciples or the apostles,
they had special understanding and insight Men today don't have. The Spirit moved the apostles
to write scripture. He certainly doesn't do that
anymore. No man today has those gifts that the apostles had.
And that's just fine. We don't need them. You don't
need me to speak in other languages. I guess everybody here only stands
one. You don't need me to do that. You don't need people to
perform miracles to know if God sent them or not. If a man comes
and says he's preaching the gospel, how do you know if he does? You
don't need him to perform miracles. All you gotta do is read God's
word. If his message matches God's
word, then he's preaching the gospel. Your man comes to you
and says he speaks for God. Pretty big statement, isn't it?
I speak for God, I'm speaking for God to you. How do you know? You've got God's word. All God
has to say to men and women in this world, if man's speaking
for God, he's going to say this exactly and nothing else. That's
how you tell. But the apostles didn't have
that, did they? The apostles were still writing the New Testament.
They didn't have the completed scripture, the complete canon
of scripture. So they needed those special
gifts. We don't. So the Lord doesn't equip his
preachers today like he did the apostles here, but he does still
equip his preachers. God himself qualifies men for
the ministry. And the church will recognize
it. The church recognizes when the Lord put his hand on a man
and given him the gift of preaching. And God's servants preach by
doing the exact same thing the Lord did when he appeared to
his disciples. We preach by pointing men and women to Christ, by showing
God's people the scars that are in our Savior's body, showing
He was crucified for our sin and He arose again for our justification. And that gospel is all the power
we need. We don't need the power of miracles
and stuff to impress people. The gospel, the gospel of peace
with God in our Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation.
All we've got to do is preach that gospel. That gospel has
the power to give God's people peace. And then last, there is
an effect of believing the gospel of peace. And there are consequences
of refusing to believe that gospel of peace. Verse 23, John chapter
20. Whosoever sins ye remit, they
are remitted unto them. And whosoever sins ye retain,
they are retained. Now, no man, the apostles included,
could ever forgive sin. No man, the apostles included,
could ever make it impossible for someone's sins to be forgiven.
God only does that. The forgiveness of sin is God's
power, God's right, something that God does alone. And God
only forgives sin through the blood and the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. God only forgives sin from the
blood that flowed from those scars that we point sinners to.
So what does our Lord mean here when he says, whosoever sins
ye remit, they're remitted, and whosoever sins ye retain, they're
retained? Well, he means this, that the apostles and all the
rest of God's servants, they're sent out with the same gospel,
or sent out with this gospel of peace, the gospel of Christ.
And whoever, I don't care who they are, whoever, I don't care
what they've done in the past, I don't care who they are, whoever
believes that gospel will be saved. Whoever believes that
gospel, their sins are forgiven. And whoever refuses to believe
that gospel, whoever refuses to believe the gospel of Christ,
whoever refuses to surrender to Christ and have peace on God's
terms will be damned. And it won't be God's fault,
it'll be theirs. It's their unbelief. It's unbelief
that damn a man's soul. There can never be any true salvation
without both repentance and faith. How does that faith come? What
does God's word say? By hearing, by hearing the word
of God. So we preach the gospel of peace. We preach peace with God through
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the power of the death
of Christ. All you have to do to have peace
with God is believe. That's the power of His death.
Your sins are forgiven through His death. Now believe. Believe Him. Just believe with
the faith that God gives you and your sin is forgiven. But
here's a warning. Whoever refuses this gospel of
peace is going to stand before God in their own sins. There'll
be no blood to atone, no blood and water that flowed from that
scar from that side to cleanse them from sin. and God will damn. He'll damn you for that sin of
unbelief. Now there is one way. There is
a way of peace with God. It's one way. It's found in Christ. Now come to Him. If you refuse
to believe Christ our peace, He is the only way of peace.
If you refuse Him, you can never expect to have peace with God,
can you? But in Christ, there's perfect peace. There's perfect,
complete peace with God because of the blood of his sacrifice,
the blood that came from the scars that are still in his body
today, in his hands and his feet and his side. God give us the
faith to believe him and leave here today enjoying peace with
God. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, We thank you for
your word. We thank you for this precious
portion of your word that declares peace with God in our Lord Jesus
Christ. And Father, I pray that as you
appeared to the disciples of old, that you would appear to
us here this morning and cause us to leave here with God-given
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, looking to him and him alone. that we leave here thanking God
for the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he gave his
body to be crucified, that he made his soul an offering for
sin, to put away the sin of his people. We pray that by faith, faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ, we'd have peace with God. Father,
I pray you'd bless your gospel as it has been preached. Cause
it to go forth in the power of your spirit. Cause it to bring
glory to your name, to cause your people to bow and worship
before you. Cause it to bless the hearts
of your people, to comfort us, to strengthen our faith in Christ. And Father, we pray that you'd
cause this gospel to go forth and to find that rebel and break
the heart. cause them to surrender to Christ
and come to Him, that they'd have peace with God. How we thank
you that you've given us peace. It's in the precious name of
our Lord Jesus Christ we pray and give thanks.