Well, once again, good morning. You'll notice
that there's three of us from our elder team
up here this morning. And roughly once a quarter
or so, we have an elder panel. And we believe
that this is really helpful in the life of the
church to be able to understand that God has
equipped the men who lead our body to teach and
that we are of one mind as we lead by his grace.
we recognize as well that it's a helpful thing
to hear from multiple people in many cases. And
in the case of this morning, we're going to be
diving into some rich truths. This morning can
often feel like spiritual no man's land for many
of us. We've come off of a rich study in the
Reformation, celebrating the faithfulness of
God, and we also begin anticipating the Thanksgiving
and the Advent seasons. Many of us find ourselves
intentionally slowing down. eager for a more
intentional pace of life and reflection, which
is ironic because there seems to be more chaos
at the same time. Many of us, although we would
never admit it out loud, would say that we're
anxious. We're anxious about relationships, work,
end -of -the -year bills, whether or not we're
going to get that big bonus, family who may or
may not be coming, which may or may not be invited,
extra meals to cook. And we can say that it sometimes
feels overwhelming at best. Last week, Jeff teased
that today we'd be talking about heaven and hell
on our elder panel. And in a matter of speaking,
we still will be. However, rather than diving
into a complex study on what heaven and hell
is and its implications for us, which we will
do at a later date, we wanted to walk it back
into something that's even more foundational
to our understanding of those two things and
as actually crucial for us in our daily life
as believers. particularly in this season of
reflection and celebration. We daily war against
the flesh. In one moment, we can find our hearts
saying, Lord, I want faith like John Knox, or
yes, Lord, Semper Reformanda, use me. And sometimes
in the very next moment, find ourselves flailing
and grieving over repeated sins and wondering
if we are, in fact, found in Christ. We cry out
with the psalmist and we say, how long, oh Lord,
my iniquity has overwhelmed me. They are a burden
too heavy to bear. Our heads tell us that this
is just part of walking by faith, that we are
not yet perfected, that we will be one day and
that we are experiencing seasons of spiritual
flourishing and spiritual drought as we labor
on to glory. But in our hearts, we long for the
day when we will see Christ face to face. And
if we're honest, we often fail because we neglect
to dwell on what actually ties all of this together.
This morning, we're going to spend time exploring
and studying the doctrine of salvation as it's
laid out in God's Word. The work of Christ once
and for all to redeem holy, undeserving sinners
to himself, the God of the universe, on no merit
of their own. These are truths that are familiar
to us. For many of us, we are not hearing this
for the first time, but it is critical for us
to understand where we started in order to understand
where we are going. This salvation ultimately
defines not only who a person is, but their eternal
destiny. Without it, sinners are doomed for guilt
to endless pains, sentenced at the end of this
life by their merit to an eternity without God
in hell. Our call to worship this morning from
the book of Isaiah foretold an Israel who is
saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation.
He says what is true, apart from him, there is
no salvation. That only in the Lord there is
salvation and that only in the Lord all the offspring
of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.
Did you catch that? In the Old Testament, all
the offspring of Israel shall be justified and
shall glory. Spoiler alert for where we're going
this morning. We just read corporately from Micah's
prophecy together. He will tread our iniquities
underfoot. You will cast all our sin into the
depths of the sea. And a thousand years later,
Martin Luther was gripped by similar language
in Romans 1. For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone
who believes. First, to the Jew, and also to
the Greek. Roughly 25 years later, John Knox,
who we learned about several weeks ago, was transformed
by the words of this foretold Savior in John
17, who said, Since you have given him the Son,
authority over all flesh, to give eternal life
to all who you have given him, this is eternal
life, that they know you, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. The glory
that you have given me and I have given to them,
that they may be one even as we are one, I in
them and you in me, that they may become perfectly
one, so that the world may know that you sent
me and love them even as you loved me. Hear the
language of adoption that is springing forth.
I desire that they also, whom you have given
me, may be with me where I am, here's why, to
see my glory that you have given me you have
loved me before the foundation of the world.
Friends, the salvation that has been foretold
that we have seen and that we look forward to
experiencing in full one day in glory is found
only in Jesus Christ. I know that is something
that most of us would affirm here this morning,
but we cannot preach that enough, particularly
this day and age. There is salvation, and God's
word says, in no one else, for there is, No other
name under heaven given among men by which we
must be saved. None. We are foreknown by Christ.
We are saved by Christ. We are found in and perfected
by Christ. It's important for us to recognize
this morning as we dive into our panel that salvation
is not an intellectual exercise. It's not simply
a doctrine to understand in the classroom, but
it is real, transformative, saving. and a gift
given from eternity past to mankind by the maker
of the universe, not in micro -segments distilled
over a long period of time, but once singularly
and for all through the incarnate one foretold,
Jesus Christ. It cannot be earned. It has been
paid for in full, and it is offered freely to
us, and it is secure for all eternity because
it has been authored by God himself. It is inextinguishable
because its purchaser has defeated death. Is
this starting to sink in yet? If it's not, our
hope is that as we continue to walk through our
time together this morning, that this would be
something that stirs our hearts and sets it aflame
to understand who God is and what he's done for
us. Salvation isn't simply personal. It's not
designed to be open and clutched as if it were
a thing to be lost. It's a gift to be shared,
to be proclaimed. We were sent to the ends of
the earth, to all nations. As we see on screen,
Jesus is a savior for the nations. We don't proclaim
it that we would receive anything more from it,
but that we would share it for the glory of one
who has given it. And salvation is not just for
the Jew, not just for the Greek, not just, hear
this, not just for the American, but it is for
all nations. Salvation is the cornerstone of
the Reformation and is the heart of the Advent
season. If you missed it in Reformation, don't
miss it over the next five weeks. Don't miss
it for the rest of your life. And so this morning
we look back at what God has done through the
Reformation. We give thanks for the clear understanding
of salvation that we have because of the text
that we hold in our hands, in our vernacular.
We clearly understand this because what was fought,
what was paid for, do you remember that there
was blood that was shed, not simply by Christ,
but for those who believed that this was transformative.
There was a cost that was paid for us to be able
to understand what we do today. This freedom
and understanding of who we have and why we worship
with an eternal intercessor has been paid for.
We look forward with anticipation and joy to
celebrating the first coming of our Messiah,
the anointed one, the foretold savior of the
nations. This is Christmas. We get excited about
this. We should get excited about this. Are you
excited about this? And so. That would be a yes
or no. Think about it. Thank you. It's good.
Are we awake? It's rainy. It's cloudy outside.
So as we ready our hearts and our minds to proclaim
the good news of this gospel until the second
coming, let's delight in what God has done as
we dig in this morning. So this morning as we
spend time together, we're going to explore several
practical applications of salvation in the life
of a believer, particularly through the lens
of the Westminster Confession. We recognize this
morning that while the confession itself is not
scripture, it's not salvific, we do recognize
that the codification of biblical truths within
it in a singular place is incredibly helpful
for the application and understanding within
the global church for us to better understand
the gift of grace that we've received. And so
we're going to dive in to better understand God's
effectual calling, justification, and faith.
And so our hope this morning is that we will
grow in our zeal for being more kingdom -minded
as we live as saints together. So are you ready?
I don't know if they're ready. Are we ready?
Let's go. So first question, I'm going to toss
to Adam. So I feel like this is the game. She
was like, Adam, thanks for being with us today.
Where are you coming from? Thank you for having
me across the valley. It's great. Yeah. Very
good. So there seems to be a struggle that people
have with the idea of an effectual calling, that
God is the one who calls people out to be saved.
So can you talk to us about what this means and
what it is and why it should be a source of comfort
and not a source of contention for us? Yeah.
First, before I even dig into that one, Grant,
thank you for an excellent intro. Many of the
things that he said already, we're just going
to talk about a little bit more, but he's covered
all of them. So praise the Lord. You made our
jobs easier. As Grant said earlier, we'll be
talking about these things. I appreciate you,
brother. Effectual calling. So this doctrine,
it really highlights the necessity for submission
to an almighty creator, an almighty savior. You
know that there's a debate. Well, some of you
know or are aware of it. The Armenian, not Armenian,
Armenian position, man chooses to follow God.
right? Versus the Calvinist position that no
man can be saved unless God initiates and then
sustains. But there should be agreement on a
couple of things here, even if you're less familiar
with those names or history. So let's parse it
out. Effectual calling has two aspects. Let's
deal with that first part, effectual. That means
that what is being done is successful. To be
effectual means that what is being done is successful.
The opposite of that would be Just open, that
the calling unto salvation among people while
open to all, who knows? Who knows what's going
to happen because it's not effectual. It's just
open. There's a distinction there. And the thing
is, that's not entirely false because we know
the gospel is an open call, but there's an issue
that we need to see in the first part. If we
say that God's calling of the elect is effectual,
then we're affirming that when God gives a command
to be saved, That no one can thwart it. Think
about that. What if God commanded somebody to
be saved and said, nah, I'm good. That would
be a crazy world to live in. Now who has the
power of salvation? Man does. So the effectual
calling is very important when we affirm, again,
God's sovereignty as creator and also as savior.
Now, later we're going to talk about perseverance
and assurance. But this here, this effectual
calling, it's the groundwork for those aspects
of faith. If God's calling were not effectual,
we'd be saying that what God wants, he doesn't
necessarily get. So effectual here means that
God is able, he will do it. And when it comes
to preparing the heart to answer to his call,
he will do it. And our end now is that second
part. So factual is the first one. Second part
is calling. That involves a response. Some of
you are too young to know what it looked like
to have a phone on the wall with a cord. Some
of you do remember. Some of you even remember
the I was right on the cusp. We had one, but
thankfully those died out quick. When somebody
calls, you answer, right? You answer. Now, today,
you can send them to voicemail. You get all kinds
of things. Back in the day, you actually answered
the phone, even if it was one of those whatever
weird calls. You answered. So on our end, the
calling involves a response. Now, we know we're
not robots, right? We're not robots. But we would
not be able to answer that call if God had not
softened a sinful and rebellious heart so that
we could answer that call. So when you think
of an effectual calling of salvation for the
believer, you need to think of God who prepares
his people to respond. Because if he didn't,
then a passage like Romans 3, 10 through 12,
it would be binding on everyone and there would
be no salvation. Here's what Romans 3, 10 through
12 says. There is no one righteous, not even
one. There is none who understands. There is
none who seeks for God. All have turned aside.
Together they become worthless. There is no one
who does good, not even one. So apart from God
first moving to draw us toward himself, we have
no hope. And that's why Ezekiel spoke of God
giving his people new hearts, hearts of flesh,
removing the heart of stone. And it's so that
his people would walk in his ways to follow after
him. So that effectual calling of believers,
it doesn't negate a human response. It doesn't
negate our responsibility, but it places that
response of a human. subsequent to or really
after God's initiation of enabling a believer
to answer that divine call to repent and to be
saved. The encouragement is at the right time,
God moves in the hearts or the inner man of people
to begin that incredible process of saving them
unto eternity. And that miracle, think of this,
that miracle is able to occur whenever the truth
of the gospel is proclaimed. That's incredible
news. Amen. Yeah. And it's a great reminder for
us to not only remember the first time that that
phone rang and the joy that we found in picking
it up and like, oh, there's someone on the other
end. But also to ask, you know, in that metaphor,
if the phone is ringing, are you going to leave
it on the hook or are you going to answer? If
God is calling you, what are you waiting for?
So in the spirit of continuing to lay a foundation,
Jeff, let's talk about justification a little
bit. This is one of the core doctrines of the
Reformation, which you walked us through. It
is. And so what is it? Why does it matter to
us? And this is a good recap in case you were
asleep for the two weeks of the Reformation series.
Here's a good refresher. Nobody slept through
that. Come on. Exactly. Amen. Amen. Well, okay,
as many of you know, the passion that stirred
the Reformation 500 years ago was the recovery
of the great doctrines of Scripture. And following
after the issue of authority, which is first,
sola scriptura, the doctrine of justification
was the most foundational of all the recovered
doctrines. And the reason for that is very simple.
It answers the most important question that any
human being can ask in this life, and that is,
how can I be made right with God? There's no
more important question. How is it possible that
an infinitely holy God can accept me, a sinner,
and declare that I'm righteous in his sight?
Knowing the answer to that question means everything.
And so it became a major front in the battle
lines for reform in the church. Now, coming out
of Rome, the claim was that justification happens
through the sacraments of the church. in a cooperative
effort between God and man, whereas the Reformers
insisted that the Bible is very clear on this
subject, that we are declared righteous solely
on the basis of God's grace and the crediting
of Christ's righteousness to our account. And
we receive his righteousness as a gift from God
by faith alone. It can't be earned. It can't
be merited by us. There's not any amount of good
works we can do to receive that. And to understand
this, you guys, all you have to do is turn to
God's word and take a stroll through the book
of Romans. And you wonder why Rome didn't do
that. It's a letter to them, to the Romans, right?
But they didn't do it. Starting in chapter 3,
verse 20, by the works of the law, no flesh will
be justified in God's sight. That is not unclear,
is it? Verses 23 and 24, for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, being justified
as a gift by his grace. Through the redemption
which is in Christ Jesus. Verses 27 and 28. Where
then is boasting? It is excluded. For we maintain
that a man is justified by faith apart from works
of the law. And then if you go on to chapter
5, you hear this in verse 1. Having been justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 9. Having now been justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath
of God through him. This is not unclear, folks.
And then if you go all the way to chapter 8,
you read what scholars refer to as the golden
chain of redemption. Four truths that are unbreakably
linked together. For those whom God foreknew,
he also predestined to be conformed to the image
of his son. And those he predestined, he also
called. And those he called, he also justified.
And those whom he justified, he also glorified.
They can't be broken up. And so understanding
this fully, you guys, and understanding the beauty
of this has really important implications for
our life. It gives us a deep assurance that our
standing before God is secure because it's not
based on our ability to stay in his grace, which
is what Rome teaches. So our status as justified
in his sight, it doesn't depend on how our feelings
that fluctuate. It doesn't depend on our moral
performance. Our status is maintained perfectly
by an all -powerful God who never changes and
never reneges on his promises. And that's good
news. So that means we can have peace and joy
in our daily lives. Even on days when we feel
unworthy of his love or have doubts, we can have
peace and joy because of what God has said in
his word. And it gives us a right sense of humility
because when you haven't earned his mercy and
you know you don't deserve to be saved, than
pride and boasting is done away with. And in
its place comes gratitude. In its place comes
worship as we meditate upon the immensity of
the gift that we've received from him. Yeah,
amen. It's so sweet that you guys have both talked
about beauty and we understand the beauty of
the gospel. And it's part of our hope this morning
is we'll do that. And particularly as we walk
into what... many would say is the most beautiful
time of the year visually. It's decorations go
up, there's lights, there's sparkle, all those
things. And in their origins, we'll talk about
this more over the coming weeks, were actually
designed to help us remember the beauty of sinners
saved by grace. And so it is, again, something
that is transformative for us. And so as we move
through the next several weeks, don't miss that.
And so speaking of beautiful things, Adam, let's
talk a little bit about faith. We often equate
faith with trust. Is there any other aspect that
we should consider? Yeah, from the Star Wars
dialect. Or perhaps a common misunderstanding
regarding saving and justifying faith. Why does
it matter? Yes. Thank you for the translation,
Jeff. Yeah, regarding faith. Thank you, Grant.
I don't want to overcomplicate it, and I'm not
going to try to do that. But I think there are
some aspects of faith or trust that we often
overlook. I've heard many a believer, when they're
talking to somebody who's struggling with their
own faith, focus upon this idea of faith as if
you can easily increase it or just hold on to
a certain amount of it. And I understand what
people mean when they talk about it that way,
that some people may have great faith to move
mountains. Others may find their commonality
with Thomas, who asked the Lord to help his unbelief.
But something that's not often discussed when
we consider saving faith, I think, is an understanding
of our own complete disability. Yeah, I'm talking
about faith. But think about your own disability.
And many of us, we don't think we have disabilities,
right? But we do. See, I seem to hear Christians
constantly encouraged with words like, you just
need to trust. If you've ever heard that before,
or just believe it'll all work out in the end.
Might have heard that. Now, it's true that for
those in Christ, it will. It will all work out
in the end. But for here and now, I think. more
believers need to start with a recognition of
their own condition, their own condition as a
basis for finding encouragement. So the whole
nature of being justified, as Jeff beautifully,
since we're using that word, beautifully explained,
is that you were guilty. You needed to be declared
righteous or not guilty. So when you think about
that aspect of saving faith, it's that you recognize
your inability. to save yourself and then along
with that you recognize the one who is able you
are unable god is able to save and so that's
the encouragement you know the one that you put
your faith or your trust in is the one who is
able to save you in the midst of your inability
to save yourself that's the good news that's
the fantastic news that's where hope rests that's
the truth of the gospel And you have to start
with your disability. You have to start with
your lost condition. And that's not a one -time
thing. You don't just start there before you're
saved. You have to remind yourself all the time.
You are unable. God is able. You can't think
about life in Christ apart from Christ. You have
to look at yourself first before you look at
him, but you're not going to see how beautiful
he is. If you think you're so great, right? You're
like, oh, what do I need? I'm doing all right.
Christ isn't going to be wonderful to you. But
if you look at how you are unable, you are disabled
to save. Then when you look to Christ and you
look to his ability to save, you're going to
say, wow, wow, that's incredible. That is how
you continue to build your faith. So believers
who are looking to build faith, when you study
God's word and keep studying and listen to sermons
and. Pick up the Bible to read for yourself and
maybe get nerdy with commentaries every once
in a while, but not too crazy. Because, yeah,
that's a whole other panel. Maybe for another
elder panel we'll talk about that. But don't
neglect the foundational truth that you cannot
save yourself and that God is powerfully able
to save. And coming back to that again and again
and again, day in and day out and week in and
week out and year in and year out, every Advent
season, but also every day, that is going to
help continue to build your faith in the one
who is able to save sinners. Yeah. Amen. Speaking
of ability and things that only God is able to
do, Jeff, let's talk a little bit about... on
the heels of that, of adoption and what that
looks like in relationship to faith. So as we're
running with the idea of beauty. Yes. Yeah, it's
a beautiful, practical implication of salvation.
And so what should we do? What should we seek
to remind ourselves about the nature? of being
adopted into God's family. And what does that
even mean for starters? Well, I actually don't
think I can describe the beauty and the wonder
of adoption any better than the Westminster Catechism
has done it. So listen to what it says. And as
I read this, see how it's built on the foundation
of justification. Without that, it's meaningless.
So here's what it says. All those that are justified
are received into the number of God's children.
They have his name put on them. The spirit of
his son is given to them. They are under his
fatherly care. They are admitted to all the liberties
and privileges of the son of God. And they're
made heirs of all the promises and fellow heirs
with Christ in glory. Honestly, words cannot
explain, if you break that up, how mind -blowing
those promises are. You start with the idea that
we don't deserve to be plucked out of our sin
and justified in God's sight. That's completely
an act of mercy and grace. But the fact that
he goes so far above and beyond just saving us,
which would be enough. Amen? It'd be enough if
he just saved us. But he goes so much farther
to the fact that the length of adopting us into
his family with all of those blessings and all
of those privileges being stacked one upon another.
It's beyond words. This should drive you guys
to incredible worship. In Galatians 4, we're
told that when we're redeemed, we receive the
adoption as sons. Because you are sons, Paul
writes, God has sent forth the spirit of a son
into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Therefore,
you're no longer a slave, but a son. And if a
son, then an heir through God. And that language
is so beautiful. For all those who trusted in
Christ and are found in him, you are, believe
this, a beloved son or daughter of the Most High.
Believe that. And imagine this now. This means
we can have confidence to approach the living
God in the same way that a child feels utterly
confident in running toward his or her earthly
father and jumping into his arms. We've been
given a whole new identity. We belong to God.
As Peter tells us in his first epistle, we are
made legal heirs to an inheritance which is imperishable.
undefiled, and will never fade away, being reserved
in heaven for us. Those are amazing promises.
Now, because of all this, here's how we ought
to respond. We ought to strive to please our
Heavenly Father, not to earn His love. He's already
given that to us. He showed us by sending His
Son into the world to die for us how much He
loves us, but we strive to please Him because
of His great love for us. And we strive to live
in a way that represents our new identity in
Christ. And now here's the last thing, the church
application. We strive to live in a way that
pleases God because we're adopted into this new
family and we're given all these new brothers
and sisters in Christ. And we strive to love
and serve them as a reflection of our Father's
great love. Yeah, amen. And I think it's important
for us to remember, even on the heels of our
study in Ecclesiastes, If you struggle with the
idea of adoption, it's probably because, as we've
been learning through Ecclesiastes, that we look
at things through our vantage point and through
the world's vantage point rather than through
what God has set forth. And so when we try to
understand adoption through the lens of a broken
family or a broken world or an imperfect earthly
father, it's going to be difficult. And so as
Jeff just reminded us, shift your perspective,
and particularly this time of year, look at...
adoption through the lens of how God has written
it, how God has ordained it. And that will become
beautiful. And I think particularly as we walk
into this time of year where many of us struggle
with the loss of loved ones, we struggle with
strained family relationships, that does not
exist in the kingdom. Your relationship for those
who are in Christ with the Heavenly Father is
perfect. It's beautiful. And there is nothing
broken about it. It's quite the opposite. So
be encouraged. And if you struggle, ask, like,
where's my perspective on this? Is it earthly?
Is it bogged down in the sins and strife of this
world? Or is it set in heavenly things above?
So the concept of sanctification is often misunderstood.
So Adam, what are some common misconceptions?
And what does the believer need to know about
sanctification? A lot. You've got 12 minutes.
I'll try to take less than that. Yeah, there
are many misconceptions when it comes to sanctification.
I'll give you one example. Some people have believed
that sanctification occurs immediately at the
point of salvation. But let's clarify some terms
then. Like, what does salvation mean? Salvation
is the nature of being saved. That's the definition
for salvation. How about sanctification then?
Sanctification is the act of being made holy,
sanctified, being cleansed. And then glorification,
that's another fun word, right? Glorification
is that work of being made finally free from
sin. Finally free from sin, okay? So salvation,
being saved. Sanctification, being made holy.
Glorification, finally free from sin. Good on
those terms? Okay, so salvation then is a status
change. Salvation for the believer is a status
change and it cannot be reversed. You were going
from death to death and then at the point of
salvation, now you're going from death to life.
You're allowed to talk in church. Death to life,
yes. You're moving towards eternal glory rather
than eternal damnation. That's the status change
that happens in salvation. Then sanctification
means that we're in process. We're moving in
that direction. The compass has been set. We're
going in that way, but we haven't arrived at
the end of the journey yet. And so glorification
then is that future state. It's being finally
freed from sin and suffering. It's the destination
of where we're trying to land. And we know that
God will take us there. We just don't know when.
Another thing that Ecclesiastes, since you brought
it up, constantly makes us think about. We don't
know when, but we know it's going to happen.
So there's sometimes a misunderstanding between
those terms and especially between sanctification
and glorification. And we need to distinguish
between the hope of glory, our final eternal
state, and the nature of life, this side of glory,
which means growing in the likeness of Christ.
I think people misunderstand how sanctification
works because it's not a work that God does by
himself. You catch that? It's not a work that
God does by himself. And it's really a grace.
That's how the Westminster Catechism terms it.
It's a grace that stirs us up to work according
to his will as we seek to become more like Christ.
I think it's difficult after we've been saved
because we still have that remnant of sin. That's
why sanctification is necessary, though, right?
You get saved, but sin isn't all the way dealt
with. So sanctification is that continual cleansing
and removal of that sin until we appear in glory.
And that's the final aspect where we've all been
cleansed. So here's just two. Two. I'll finish
with this. Two encouragements about sanctification.
It's first this. God is the initiator and he's
the sustainer of our being made holy. He's the
initiator. He's a sustainer of our being made
holy. How do we know this? Philippians 1 .6 says,
I'm confident of this very thing that he who
began a good work. will carry it and perfect
it until the day of Christ Jesus. He initiates.
He sustains. Romans 8, 28 through 30. God is
working out all things for his glory, for the
good of his people. And the good involves his
people being conformed to the image of Christ.
So oftentimes we get asked, like, why am I going
through this trial? Why am I going through this
struggle? Why am I still dealing with sin? Because
God is conforming you, if you're a believer,
to be more like Christ. Your difficulties are
pushing you towards him. Your frailties show
you your need for him. That's good. That's sanctification,
this side of glory. Now, second thing, I said
two things. Second thing, God's initiator, he's
a sustainer. Number two is we are active. We
are active in our own sanctification, but by
the strength that God provides. And he provides
it by the Holy Spirit and by his word. Philippians
2, 12 through 13. Give a very hard couple of
verses here. But my beloved, as you've always
obeyed, not only in my presence now, but much
more in my absence, work out your salvation with
fear and trembling. For it is God who is at work
in you, both to will and to work for his good
pleasure. So in sanctification, our activity
should be laser focused on putting personal sin
to death. and walking in the newness of life
in Christ. And we do that because he is at work
in us that we would willing to work for his good
pleasure. So we rely on his help and we put every
effort into walking in his ways. That's what
sanctification should be about. Yeah, amen. And
it feels like the appropriate time to say, and
this was sponsored by the commercial for discipleship
and biblical counseling, because that is really
how those things are fleshed out on a practical
level. It's why it matters. And, you know, we
joke that if you have questions, adamandokilbible
.com. But in this case, it's actually true. Like,
if you don't understand what it means, that's
this guy, for those of you who are visiting with
us today. But if you don't understand what it
means to work out your salvation with one another,
or if you do understand and you're struggling
with it, that is why discipleship matters. That
is why counseling biblically matters. Because
in case you haven't heard it loudly enough this
morning, God's word is true. It's effective.
It is impactful and transformative for us. So,
yeah, Adam, thank you for that, brother. So you
talked a little bit about distinctions. And as
we've laid a foundation for things that are broad
and foundational for us, Jeff, let's talk a little
bit about distinctions and talk a little bit
about heresy. And, you know, heretical, we're
not going to talk heresy, talk about heresy.
But heretical views of Christianity erase the
necessity of repentance. Why is this an absolute
necessity and critical in the life of a believer?
Yeah, repentance is one of those biblical words
that tends to bother the average unbeliever who
doesn't know or trust God's word. To their unredeemed
ear, repentance sounds judgy and it sounds old
-fashioned. But for those of us who do know and
trust the scriptures, we know that repentance,
is an essential component of salvation in fact
in our own church covenant we describe salvation
this way having been brought by divine grace
to repent and believe in the lord jesus christ
and to follow after him so you have three words
there repent believe and follow it all starts
with divine grace but then it's repent believe
and follow those are components of what it means
to truly be saved and truly be found in christ
And that repentance piece involves a sincere
turning away from sin and turning towards God.
And this should be done in ever increasing measure
as we walk in the spirit, as we abide in Christ
more deeply over the years. This is something
that should grow in our lives. Having a repentant
heart requires us, you guys, to do self -examination.
Asking the Holy Spirit. To make our sin known
to us. Asking him to reveal to us all the ways
that we've fallen short. And yes, that can be
something that's painful at times. But so, so
necessary. Because we want to be 100 % honest
with God about our sin. Newsflash, he already
knows. But we want to be honest with him about
it. And we can be honest with God about our sin.
Because we are his children. Because we're already
assured of his love. And we're assured of our
place in his family. He's not going to forsake
us, even when, again, we feel unlovable. Even
when we've gotten off track, God will not forsake
us. So we seek to recognize and deal with our
sin on a regular basis. We don't ignore it. We
don't try to justify it. We don't slough it off
as if it doesn't matter. Instead, we live out
the process and the promise in 1 John 1, 9, which
says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful
and righteous. to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But before
that, John says, if we say that we have no sin,
we're deceiving ourselves and the truth is not
in us. And I think that's true of a person who
professes to know Christ, but then doesn't see
the need for ongoing repentance. That person
is self -deceived and the truth is not in him.
So repentance is an ongoing part of spiritual
growth and renewal for any true believer. With
the help of God's Spirit, we stay committed to
the idea of putting sin to death in our bodies,
and we keep on laying aside those parts of the
old man that Adam talked about that keep coming
up, springing up in our lives. And when they
spring up, we don't just ignore it. We call it
what it is. It's sin. We repent of it. We confess
it to our Father, and we trust in His promise
of forgiveness, and then we realign ourselves
with God's will. That's the process of repentance.
And man, I hate to say this. It's a lifelong
practice. Until we get to glory, we'll continue
to do it. Make it a habit. It's a good thing.
Yeah, amen. Yeah, that's so encouraging. Yeah,
it's rich. I think it's interesting. You guys
have both talked about both the collaborative
effort in sanctification and the need. to actually
willfully repent and so in that i think it does
it brings up the question of good works and this
is part of why as we look at salvation why sometimes
we struggle as humans in our finite understanding
to understand how good works are actually not
a part of the equation of salvation itself and
while it's an outpouring of it So, Adam, can
you help us understand why we shouldn't trust
in those good works, whether it be the practical
process of sanctification or repentance or even
trying to work towards salvation? But can you
also clarify maybe why our works are unqualified
to pay for our sins? Yes. Big question, but an
important one. Really, the roots of this question
deal with justification, and Jeff handled that
really well. We know that good works do not save.
Yet we always have to remind ourselves of that
because we are prone to forget it. Even if you
didn't grow up in a Catholic church, you're still
prone to rest on your own merit and not on Christ.
That's human nature, sinful nature. But here's
a reality. You said, okay, what about our works
makes them unqualified? Even our best works,
I don't know if you've heard this, hopefully
you have, but even our best works. need to be
cleansed. Even our best good deeds need to be
cleansed because we're not glorified. Remember
that word glorified? And it means we're finally
freed from sin. So that means even your best
works are still tainted with what? Sin. We're
not freed from sin yet. So even when we do good
things for the Lord, it still needs to be washed
clean by the blood of Christ. Isaiah 64, 6 says,
all of us have become like one who is unclean.
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy
garment, and all of us wither like a leaf, and
our iniquities, like the wind, carry us away.
And that passage reminds us that even when we
do good, wonderful things, we are yet sinners,
and we need to be saved by grace, not by works.
We also know, though, that we're called to pursue
the good works that God has created beforehand
for us. Ephesians 2 .10, we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for... Good works, which
God prepared beforehand so that we would walk
in them. James chapter two, verse 18. Some will
say you have faith and I have works. Show me
your faith without the works and I'll show you
my faith by my works. So here's something to
consider. Your good works, they don't prove that
you're saved. Good works don't prove that. However,
listen to this. Your desire. to pursue good works
as an act of worship, that shows the inner reality
of being saved. So if you struggle to pursue
good works out of gratitude, you probably are
struggling with worship. If you're not pursuing
good works because you want to honor the Lord,
you're probably not wanting to honor the Lord
in other areas. At times, sin is going to tempt
you to trust in your flesh. You're going to say,
I am good because I did X, Y, and Z. I did these
things to serve the Lord. You're going to make
that your basis for confidence and salvation.
Be cautious. Be on guard for that. When we come
back to the truth that our good works or our
good deeds, they don't save. When we pursue good
works with an aim to worship Christ, to show
and to evidence our gratitude for him, in that
we have great encouragement to make it our aim
really to please him. That's what we should be
aiming for. That's going to show up in all aspects
of your life. How do you respond to your spouse
in moments of difficulty or your coworkers, your
friends, your authorities? And maybe it's not
moments of difficulty. Maybe it's moments of
their need. Maybe they need something and how
you respond is going to say a lot about you.
Your responsibility or your responses when you
need to serve, when you see those, where's Laura?
Church center, planning center, online, whatever
it's called now, service opportunities, right?
This segment is sponsored by Planning Center.
I'm trying to help you out. Yeah, Planning Center.
There we go. When you see those needs pop up,
when you see acorn prep night pop up or volunteers
needed for acorns pop up or volunteering with
the impact team or serving with the care team,
bringing meals, all kinds of, there's so many
different ways to serve. But pursuing good works,
it should be normal. for the believer because
the believer is grateful. It should be normal.
And their gratitude motivates their eyes and
their ears really to be open for opportunities,
not just waiting to be asked to do something,
but pursuing and seeking because it's an act
of your worship. And you shouldn't just be aiming
for things that are easy or just fit your bill
or whatever because there's no such thing. Rather,
you should be seeking to serve in whatever way
God would open the door for you. And so you may
say, but I'm an ear. I can only do things that
an ear does. Sometimes you need to be a hand
because, like Paul said, I become all things
to all men that some may be saved. So you seek
to serve in any way that God would open the door
for you. And we do it, again, as Grant and Jeff
have said, not as a means of salvation at all.
but as a response of gratitude that our hope
is still in Christ because we worship him in
what we do. That's the reality. You don't worship
him with thoughts and feelings and emotions.
Those are real things, but that's not the substance
of worship. The substance of worship is your
whole life. So yes, your thoughts, feelings,
and emotions matter, and what you do with your
hands and where you go with your feet, that also
matters. You need to have them match. Amen. Yeah,
Adam, thank you. That idea of gratitude in how
we respond is so helpful. And man, I wish that
there was a time coming up sometime soon where
we could focus on gratitude. Oh, wait, Thanksgiving's
coming. But in all seriousness, that's part of
why we've talked about wanting to have this conversation
as a body now in light of where we've been, in
light of where we're going, coming forth. And
so friends, I think as we move towards celebrating
Thanksgiving in just a very short number of days,
To think about that, not just the thankfulness
for the immediate things around you, but thankfulness
for the good works that God has called us to
in Christ. And I think, Adam, your expectation
to even consider our own lives within the body
of Christ at Oak Hill, are we thankful in the
ways that we serve? Just let that sit for a second.
Are you thankful? If you served this morning,
were you thankful for the opportunity? If you
are serving next week, are you thankful for that
opportunity? Not just to bless one another, but
to actually give thanks to God for what he's
done. It's really rich. So I have one more question
for each of you. But before we do that, take
a deep breath. I know this is, yeah, good. You
can breathe in church too. You have two for me.
Exactly. I do have two. Jeff has two more. Yes,
that's right. You will not be cut off. Did you
see that? He will not be cut off. That's hilarious.
You're correct. But it's really good for us to
recognize, okay, we've laid a foundation. We've
talked about some really practical things. But
as we look at these next couple of questions,
we're starting to look a little bit more outward,
long -ranging for the life of the believer. So
we've talked about good works. Jeff, let's talk
about the perseverance of the saints. This is
a very, for many of us, an abstract topic that
we kind of throw around and we're like, oh yeah,
we're going to persevere. What does that mean?
So how should this bring comfort to us? What
makes this doctrine so comforting? What do we
often miss as we think about this? Yeah, it's
one of the most comforting doctrines you'll find
in all of Scripture, the promise that we have.
For example, and Adam already quoted it from
Philippians 1, Paul says that he is confident
in this thing, confident, that he who began a
good work in you will perfect it until the day
of Christ Jesus. So if he started a work in you,
that means he's chosen you, he's called you,
he's brought you to life, he's justified you
in his sight. He will finish his work in you.
He will accomplish all that he wants to do through
you right up until the day that he calls you
home. That's the promise we have. We will persevere
in saving faith until that day. Now, going back
to the Westminster Catechism, the catechism gives
us five, I think, astonishing reasons why this
is true, rooted in these five things. You ready?
Our perseverance is rooted, first of all, in
the unchangeable love of God for us. Secondly,
in his eternal decree that he marked us out long
before the foundation of the world was laid.
Number three, our inseparable union with Christ.
Nothing can separate us from his love. Number
four, Jesus' continual intercession for us, which
he does from the right hand of the Father. And
five, the spirit and seed of God abiding in us.
Those are five powerful reasons why we will persevere.
Because of all those things I just mentioned,
the catechism says the believer can neither totally
nor finally fall away from a state of grace,
but each one is kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation. And this comes out of a
promise that Jesus gives us in John chapter 10.
He says, I give eternal life to my sheep, and
they will never perish. And no one will snatch
them out of my hand. My father who's given them
to me is greater than all and no one is able
to snatch them out of my father's hand. And then
he says this amazing thing. I and the father
are one. We will keep you. And that is quite
a promise. Now, let me not ignore an important
truth. There is in the New Testament, we're given
multiple warning passages about being deceived.
Warnings to make sure that your faith is real
and not contrived. In fact, Paul told the Corinthians,
test yourselves to make sure you're in the faith.
Peter said we should be diligent to make our
calling and choosing certain. So this is an important
thing to consider, but those verses do not contradict
God's promise of perseverance for the saints.
If your faith is genuine, if you're not lying
to yourself, if you're not playing a game trying
to fool God or fool others, If you truly trust
in Christ and in the promises of God, and there's
evidence of spiritual fruit and transformation
in your life, then you belong to God's family.
That evidence means you've been chosen, called,
and justified. If you're part of his family,
you're part of his family forever. And you will
persevere to the end. God's love, God's sovereign
power will see to it. But make sure that your
calling and your choosing is certain. That is
a real command in scripture. But let this be
a comfort to you. Amen. Yeah. Are you encouraged
yet? Yeah, we should be. Yeah, it's really rich.
Thank you, brother. So this is, as you just shared,
this is a comforting doctrine. It's amazing.
And yet we still struggle with assurance. And
some of this is a condition of our humanity.
So Adam, what should we remember to help encourage
our hearts in light of what Jeff has just shared?
Yeah, that doctrine, it is so, critical in the
life of a believer. Jeff, that was great. That
was a great answer. So mine is predicated on
everything that he just said. Okay. So bearing
that in mind, because without that doctrine,
without the doctrine of the perseverance of the
saints, we would be living in limbo. We would
be living unsure of our eternal state. Wow. I
don't even understand how anyone from a supposed
Christian background. And yes, I'm poking at
a Catholic doctrine. I don't understand how anyone
could live there and say, yet I will still trust.
It's crazy to me. We would then, obviously, as
the Catholic Church has done, try to find some
hope in what we do, right? That's where we would
try to find our hope and what we're doing. We
would try to find our security by doing something,
right? That's what we would do. And I'm not trying
to pick on the Catholic Church to be pugnacious
or difficult, but I'm trying to point out why
it's so critical and why so many saints would
have laid their lives down to fight over these
things several hundred years ago. The perseverance
of the saints, it is a key doctrine for believers,
yet believers are still going to struggle with
assurance. Why? Because we doubt. We can't see
the end. We're somewhere in the middle because
Faith, as scripture says, is hope in things we
cannot see, yet are utterly convinced by. So
if someone, though, were not completely convinced,
then assurance would be very shaky, right? Or
if somebody was pretending to hope outwardly
to others and then inwardly they're doubting,
that would also be a difficult life to live.
You could imagine then that, as Jeff pointed
out, there's special nuanced cases of people
who are being self -deceived. And then we are
by nature doubters because we only can see things
physically. If we can't see the end, then we're
going to be nervous about that. You can imagine
why assurance is so important to consider. Now,
many of the answers today you've heard have focused
on God's greatness, God's ability to save, his
power to redeem, his power to transform hearts,
his power to sustain us to the end. And this
issue here about assurance, it's no different.
If you want to address assurance, you have to
look at the character of God and not yourself.
The character of God and not yourself. Yes, you
need to inventory yourself. Do you delight in
him? Do you yield to him? Are you dependent upon
him? Those are things you should consider because
if you don't, that's your answer, right? If you
don't delight in him, that's your answer. If
you don't yield to him, that's your answer. If
you don't want to be dependent upon him, that's
your answer. But as Jeff pointed out, if you
are yielded to him, then you look to his character
first before addressing yours. How often did
David cry out to God for help in the midst of
discouragement, only to then encourage his own
heart with truth about God's character, that
God is a stronghold, a place of refuge, a protector,
a vindicator, a faithful God. who keeps his promises.
When you're dealing with assurance, I want to
help believers not just inventory their own failures.
We all have them. Anyone who says they don't
is lying and they misunderstand glorification,
right? Because being glorified means freed from
sin. Everyone else, all of us, all y 'all, to
quote people from the South, we're all in process.
Sin is not fully dealt with yet. So we might
have insecurities. We're not going to ignore
those and our sin issues, but I want to help
people look to the character of God who rescues
sinners. How many of you are familiar or remember
the story of Jesus with Matthew? Matthew chapter
9. I'm going to read these verses. Verses 9 through
13. As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man
called Matthew sitting in the tax office, and
he said to him, follow me. And he stood up, and
he followed him. Then it happened as Jesus was
reclining at the table in the house, behold,
many tax collectors and sinners came and were
dining with Jesus and his disciples. When the
Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples,
why is your teacher eating with tax collectors
and sinners? But when Jesus heard this, he said,
it is not those who are healthy who need a physician,
but those who are sick. Go and learn what this
means. I desire compassion and not sacrifice,
for I did not come to call the righteous, but
sinners. Friends, that's Christ. That's the heart
of God. You and I, we are sinners. We fail. We
don't fully have God's heart. And so we judge
immensely, even the failures that we see in ourselves.
But because of Christ, God's perfect judgment
against sinners It's satisfied because he took
on our sin and our shame. So believers should
focus more on the incredible sacrifice of Christ,
slain for sinners, when they consider their own
assurance of salvation. It's his power. It's
his sacrifice. It's his resurrection that keeps
and holds sinners as saints. So we would do well
to lift our eyes to him when we consider assurance.
And so I'll leave you with this. Assurance is
not your grip on God, but God's grip on you.
Amen. Yeah, Adam, that's so helpful. And I think
it's instructive for us to remember that we have
to fix our eyes on Jesus. We cannot. We cannot
succeed without that. And as an encouragement
for each of us in the body, one of the things
that we hear most commonly in the life of a believer
is, I'm struggling with my assurance of salvation.
Yeah, we hear, yeah, I struggle with sin, but
it's something that almost all of us in the process
of our life as Christians will wrestle with at
some point. And yet it's not widely talked about.
For some reason that still, we try to wrap our
minds around, we struggle with, we feel ashamed.
It's like, I can't walk through this, but it's
because we fix our eyes on ourselves, as you
said, and not on Jesus. And so the encouragement
in that is that if you are struggling with your
assurance of salvation, Come talk to an elder
about it. Talk to someone who's discipling you
because it is something, again, let's fix our
eyes on Jesus together. Let's walk through this.
Don't bury it. Don't pretend like there's something
wrong with you because guess what? There is.
There is something wrong with you and with each
of us and we need that savior. So let's work
through that together. So last, actual last question
for you since you will not be cut off. In light
of all that, Let's talk about something that
is also difficult for us. We've had to deal with
a lot as a church body this year, is the idea
of grief and how this relates to salvation. And
sometimes this feels like an odd disconnect for
us, like those two are unrelated to one another.
So the question for you is, why don't believers
grieve like the world when another believer dies?
or maybe or, what actually happens when a believer
dies? Yeah, we have had to deal with this in
the last year with Jared Dawson and then with
Chris Jackson, and we've all walked through that
together. It's been hard. The question points
us right to what Paul said to the Thessalonian
church back in the first century when they were
struggling with the death of loved ones. And
he said, we don't want you to be uninformed,
brothers. Okay, when Paul says that, that's important.
We don't want you to get this wrong about those
who are asleep. So that you will not grieve as
do the rest who have no hope. And then he explains,
for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so God will bring with him those who have
fallen asleep in Jesus. So as believers, it's
not as though we don't grieve. We do and we should
because we've lost a loved one. But it's different
for us because for those who've died in Jesus,
and that's the critical right component, died
in Jesus, we know that there's a great reunion
ahead, that we will not only see them again,
but enjoy glory with them forever and ever. So
we hold on to this hope, and it's a hope that
is certain because it's rooted in the promises
that God has given us in his infallible word.
That's the only reason we can have hope, because
it's rooted in God's promises. We trust and we
rejoice that our loved ones who have died in
Jesus are right now perfectly free from sin,
glorification. They're free from temptation and
all the trials and difficulties of this life.
Good for them. Amen? Amen. The Westminster Catechism
puts it this way. They have been made perfect
in holiness. They've been received into the highest
heavens. And they are right now beholding the
face of Christ in light and glory. So every death
of the believer is simply an entrance into that
glory. As it's often described, we graduate from
this life of tears into a much, much, much better
phase of existence. And listen, there's so many
passages I could point to you to for this, but
I'll give you a couple just fantastic ones. Philippians
1, 21 to 23, Paul says, for me to live is Christ,
good, and to die is gain. And then he goes on
to weigh the good parts of living on the earth
and the better news of dying in Christ. And so
he says, if I'm to live on in the flesh, this
will mean fruitful labor for me. That's good,
right? More ministry, more worship. And he says,
I don't know which to choose. I'm hard pressed
from both directions, but having the desire to
depart and be with Christ because that's very
much better. And that's true of a believer. In
2 Corinthians 5, he says, while we're at home
in the body, we're absent from the Lord. Still,
he says, as believers, we'd prefer the opposite.
We'd prefer to be absent from the body and be
at home with the Lord. Why? Because to be with
the Lord is where our truest home is. That's
something we've got to get into our minds and
hearts. That's our truest home. Perhaps the most
beautiful passage on this in the entire Bible
is actually Old Testament. Psalm 116, 15, here's
how God sees our physical passing from this earthly
life into eternity. He says, precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his godly ones.
Why is that so? Because we're brought into Christ's
immediate presence, and he rejoices in that.
Did you catch that? Imagine this thought. Your
graduation into his presence is actually precious
to him. So as we get older, and I'm feeling it,
and the reality of our physical death begins
to creep up on us, it's my prayer that you and
I as believers will remember these important
truths. And when we do lose someone that we love,
like Jarrett, like Chris, that we think rightly
about it. And we grieve the loss, yes, but not
as the world grieves. We hope in Christ. Yeah,
yeah, amen. Yeah, Jeff, that word hope is something
that we miss so often. We think of salvation
as just a box of tick or irrespective of that,
but in that, it should motivate us to hope in
Christ. Brothers, thank you so much. What a rich
meal that we've been able to share together today.
It's such a joy to sit and to learn from you
both about what salvation is and to walk through
this together. And thank you, Grant. Joy. We
created a meal. Does that mean there was sauce
on it? I'm gonna go with yes. It just got personal.
So in light of all of this, let's, how do you
follow that? In light of all this, let's walk
it, let's walk it back. As we've talked about
effectual calling, we've talked about faith,
adoption, justification, sanctification, repentance,
good works, perseverance, assurance, death, grief,
and hope. Ask yourself this question right now.
Are you in Christ? Are you saved? For most of
us, the answer, Lord willing, would be yes, which
is good. Amen. But ask yourself, do you have
every confidence that if you were to walk out
that door or even, God forbid, you were to drop
dead in the next five minutes, that you would,
as Jeff just said, be received with joy by your
maker? This is a question that we have to ask.
And again, we don't ask this out of despair or
fear, but out of hope and confidence that that
pardon has been sealed by Jesus Christ for mankind.
And so as we look at the next several weeks as
we move towards the end of the year, this is
a great time to stop and to take stock of your
spiritual condition, to ask, do you believe that
Jesus Christ is the only Savior and that in him
is found your very life? And so friends, the
invitation then is if you are not in Christ,
if you are not found in him and saved with every
hope of eternity, would you come find one of
us? after service? Would you go to someone who's
discipling or who you know without a shadow of
a doubt is in Christ? And would you say, as we
see in scripture, how must I be saved? Call on
him. Ask that he would save you. And so then
the application and encouragement for you is
if you are in Christ, are you hiding your light
under a basket? Are you holding on to it like
you're gonna lose it or are you walking out and
spreading the gospel because it has changed your
very existence and your hope of glory? Are you
gonna walk through Christmas like it's any other
year and are you gonna forget that that call
remains open to those who God is drawing, that
it remains for all nations? Are you looking for
ways to share the gospel of salvation with those?
who just like you and I do not deserve it. It's
a good chance for us to stop and take stock and
ask, do we have pride in our hearts? Do we hold
on to something and say that I have contributed
in some way to this? If you're proud, why? Do
you run to Christ? As Adam and Jeff have exhorted
us so well this morning, do you fix your eyes
on him and not yourself and your own condition?
Stop navel gazing. and glory gaze instead. So
in light of that, friends, be encouraged this
morning. Our hope is that your hearts would be
full of joy and hope as we look towards Jesus
Christ, the Savior for the nations, that he is
good, he is glorious, he is perfect, and that
should cause us for the rest of our days, however
many there may be, to wonder and to marvel at
his great work for us. So let's go to the Lord
in prayer. And we'll have an opportunity to respond
in song and through giving together as we close
our time. Father, Son, Spirit, we come to you
this morning and we thank you for your perfection.
We thank you that apart from Jesus Christ that
there is no way to be saved. That there is no
good in us. Father, we thank you that there is
a hope of glory for those who would trust in
this great and glorious gospel. Father, I pray
this morning that if there are those who are
clinging tightly to their own merit, that you
would convict them that they cannot live apart
from you. that you would soften their hearts
and that you would open their eyes and cause
the scales to fall off, that they would find
joy in their entire identity being wrapped in
Jesus Christ. Father, for those who are weary
this morning, who are doubting, would you, by
your spirit, encourage them that their hope is
found in you and not in themselves? Father, we
thank you that your word has clearly laid out
for us areas in which we need to grow, areas
in which we need to turn from our sin, areas
in which we need to cling tightly to you, and
areas in which we need to look forward to what
is yet to be. And Father, we pray for a supernatural
understanding in our finite minds that would
give us hope as we walk through this life to
delight in the glory of God. and salvation through
Christ and Christ alone. We praise you for our
time together this morning. We ask as we respond
in worship through song and through giving that
you would be pleased with the attitudes of our
hearts, that we would worship you with abandon
as we rehearse for the day when we will meet
you face to face. It's for your name, your glory,
and our good we pray.