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we uh begin worship this morning uh last Lord's day we um announced that Josh and Katie Butler we expecting uh they're expecting NE uh next August we also have another announcement this morning uh Lucas and Kayla PR are expecting as well so we rejoice in that news uh they are expecting in July so the summer of 2017 will be the the summer of babies here at at free Grace Baptist Church we uh we rejoice in our great God who gives these uh great gifts to his people um secondly we uh just a reminder that Jim Butler is away uh possibly for uh uh this Sunday as well as uh a few following this Sunday um if you're here uh expecting to hear Jim preach you're stuck with me the the younger and the boulder uh this morning um Jim is often when he when he's giving um uh uh images or illustrations of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement he often says it's something like this if he ever gets hit by a bus cam will come up here and and be his substitute um well he wasn't hit by a bus but he probably feels like he was he had his hip uh replaced and he's uh quite sore right now he's resting at home so we can uh pray for him in uh our time of prayer this morning well let's go to our Bibles then let's turn in the holy word of God to the Book of Psalms our call to worship will be a reading of Psalm 2 Psalm 2 our call to worship this Lord's Day Sabbath morning beginning in verse one the word of God why do the Nations rage and the people plot a vain thing the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ saying let us break their Bonds in pieces and Cast Away their cords from us he who sits in the heavens shall laugh the Lord shall hold them in derision then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure yet I have set my king on my Holy Hill of Zion I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me you are my son today I have begotten you ask of me and I will give you the Nations for your inheritance and the ends of the Earth for your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron you shall Dash them to pieces like a Potter's vessel now therefore be wise o Kings be instructed you judges of the earth serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little blessed are all those who put their trust in him amen well let's stand as a church and sing if you want to turn in uh turn to your red Trinity Suter you can stand with me and turn to Psalm 115 that's Psalm 115 we'll be singing it to a familiar tune [Music] Glory [Music] [Music] there go silver by [Music] [Music] and TR [Music] [Music] the heaven Earth [Music] son [Music] please be seated let us pray our righteous and our heavenly father we come to you now in the spirit through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ rejoicing that we can gather in this place to worship Father Son and Holy Spirit we do pray again that you would help us to worship you now we pray that you would give us uh Hearts to uh rise up to that proper worship of the Triune God we long to worship you in spirit and in truth rejoicing in our blessed God and rejoicing in our savior the Lord Jesus Christ and the Perfection of his saving work we do just pray that you would impress upon us the glory of God and the glory of the gospel and the blessing that it truly is to be found in this place on your Lord's Day Sabbath we do pray that you would help us to hallow your name and we would ask yet again God that around the world your name would be hallowed that your Saints Gathering Together now and of course having already gathered that they would all sing the Praises of father son and spirit that they would all along with us rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ we thank you for that gospel we know the the condition of man we know that man is dead in his trespasses and in his sins we thank you praising you that you have brought us forth from Darkness to light that you have brought us forth from deadness to life in Christ by virtue not of anything in us but solely and alone by virtue of your amazing and Victorious grace through the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that by your spirit you have brought us forth uh to sing with Glory Hallelujah What A Savior to rejoice in the king of kings and to find out all our spiritual blessings in him we do pray that you would help us to rejoice in the shed blood of the Savior wherein we have the Forgiveness of sins we know that we have sinned and we know that even as re generate Christians we uh have that remaining corruption where we can stumble where we can still be found with transgression we pray that you would cleanse Us aesh in the blood of the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and help us ever the more by your spirit to put to death the sins of the Flesh and to live unto righteousness we do pray God that you would be with those who need prayer for uh physical things as we prayed in The Hour of Prayer this morning we pray for all of those Afflicted with a disease and injury and and all of these things Lord truly your Saints do can suffer physically and we do just pray that you would heal them that you would strengthen them uh that you would bring to them your nearness that they might in the face of Affliction uh know their God and rejoice in your promises and we do just pray that you would tend to your hurting Saints Lord and just lift them up and we pray specifically for pastor Butler we thank you for the successful surgery uh his hip replacement we do pray Lord that you would uh just help him now we pray that you would help him uh in his pain as he recovers we do pray that you would remove the soreness and the discomfort and the pain that you would daily uh just knit that uh that wound together and and cause him daily to know growth in strength we do pray that in due time he would be back with us uh rejoicing along with us uh in you and in our Christ we pray though away from us that he nevertheless would be with us in spirit rejoice where he is and the benefits that he has by virtue of Christ Jesus Our Redeemer we do pray Lord that uh you would be with your persecuted Saints as we pray each and every Lord's day God we would ask that you would be near to our Brothers and Sisters in Christ who do suffer under the the heavy and the angry and the unbelieving hands of oppressors we would pray that you would lift them up that you would give him give them the courage of Christ to help them to as it were look away from the The Madness of persecution and look with eyes of great faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ that they would find in him all of Their Blessings all of their courage all of those things uh that are Comfort to the soul we do just pray that you would uh be with them and that you would deal with those who oppose them that you would save many of those who are presently your enemies that they would hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by your spirit be brought forth from The Madness of idolatry to faith in Christ and we do pray for those remaining in Rebellion that you would bring the temporal judgment down upon them that they may no longer bring violence Upon Our blessed Saints we would ask God that you would be with those who govern over us as we read in this in your holy word that we are to be in prayer for kings and those who are in Authority that we might know the peace of God where we live and that we might have advantaged benefit to Proclaim The Riches of Christ Jesus to a a needful world we pray for those who rule over us Lord that you would cause those in positions of power to rule in righteousness in equity and in truth and that you would remove those from Power who would seek to corrupt who would seek to exalt Vice and put down virtue we would pray that you would be with us now then as we worship we know that we require the spirit that our souls might be aroused to to high and heavy thoughts of the Triune God to rejoice in our precious savior we do pray that You' be with us and as we sing hymns as we read your holy word as we come to you in prayer as we engage in that act of worship the preaching of the word Lord might you be with us and might you be gloried in and might the Lord Jesus Christ be exalted upon the Praises of this gathered assembly and once again God might by all of this might your Saints be edified uh well instructed help us to be encouraged by your spirit and by Your Word Lord and we do pray that you would save Sinners this morning that by that same spirit and same word those who entered in these two doors outside of Christ both young and old Lord God we pray that they would leave these two doors rejoicing in our Christ and singing of the glories of gospel Grace we pray all these things now that you might be glorified in this gathered assembly through Jesus Christ Our Savior amen well let's stand and sing again this time we're going to sing uh in your Trinity himels we'll sing hymn number 600 hymn number 600 let's stand and sing together [Music] We Stand Christ Glory your story and shall my [Music] glor the theck and when I see the shall I [Music] theone Bey I see as th shall I [Music] shall [Music] for up from in theor son [Music] please be seated you can turn in your Bibles to the Book of Matthew chapter 22 Matthew 22 that's our New Testament scripture reading we won't read all of the chapter we'll read from verse 1 through to verse 22 Matthew 22 beginning in verse 1 once again the word of God God and Jesus answered and spoke to them again by Parables and said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain King who arranged a marriage for his son and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding and they were not willing to come again he sent out other servants saying tell those who are invited see I have prepared my dinner my oxen and fatted cattle are killed and all things are ready come to the wedding but they made light of it and went their ways one to his own Farm another to their to his business and the rest seized his servants treated them spitefully and killed them but when the king heard about it he was Furious and he sent out his armies destroyed those murderers and burned up their City then he said to his servants the wedding is ready but those who were invited were not worthy therefore go into the highways and as many as you find invite to the wedding so those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found both bad and good and the wedding hall was filled with guests but when the king came in to see the guests he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment so he said to him friend how did you come in here without a wedding garment and he was speechless then the king said to the servants bind him hand and foot take him away and cast him into outer Darkness there will be weeping and nashing of teeth for many are called but few are chosen then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle him in his talk and they sent to him their disciples with the herodians saying teacher we know that you are true and teach the way of God in truth nor do you care about anyone for you do not regard the person of man tell us therefore what do you think is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not but Jesus perceived their wickedness and said why do do you test me you Hypocrites show me the tax money and they brought him a Daenerys and he said to them whose image and inscription is this then they said to him Caesars and he said to them render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are Gods when they had heard these words they marveled and left him and went their way amen well let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you that we can read your holy scriptures we rejoice in the teaching and in the instruction of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that we have heard the good words of invitation we thank you that we have heard the good words of gospel truth and Lord God that by your grace we have come to know this Christ and we do pray that you would help us uh always as we come to the Bible to rejoice in our savior to glory in you to rejoice in the gospel of Saving Grace and that we might seek to by uh by the reading of your scriptures and by the power of your Holy Spirit to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Christ Jesus our lord and we do pray Lord God for uh for Josh and Katie and for Lucas and Kayla we thank you for this good news we do pray that you would watch over uh the babies in their wombs we do pray Lord God that you would watch over mother and father and we do pray Lord God that in due time you would by your good kindness uh bring forth these babies uh and we do look forward to rejoicing along with father and mother we do pray as well Lord God for the uh South sui Bible study we thank you uh that we have this going we thank you that we have those uh interested seeking to uh grow in the grace in in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in that area and we look forward Lord God to the possibility of a church plant there and we pray that you would just nourish and grow this uh small gathering we pray that you would grow it and we pray Lord God that by this we would have uh in due time a church planted elsewhere in the lore Main uh that your light might shine and that the gospel would be proclaimed we do pray now that you would continue to be with us in worship might you be glorified might Christ be exalted and might we be here well fed by spirit and word we pray in the Lord Jesus Christ amen well let's stand again the last hymn before preaching this one is an insert in the back of your himels be thou my vision let's stand and sing be thou my vision together [Music] of my heart all to that [Music] th my my God sleeping my [Music] true I am with the and th with me my great father [Music] I and I [Music] prise th my in now and my heart K of Heaven my th my viory may I Heaven [Music] Bri still be [Music] please be seated you can turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 1 Philippians chapter 1 our Focus uh over the course of the next number of Lord's days will be a passage in Philippians 2 Philippians 2:5-11 recently I preached down at pastor barcelos church in Palmdale and and I had five points uh for a sermon I was preaching on Philippians 2:5-11 and I only got through two uh so I thought uh here at free Grace Baptist Church we could work through the passage slowing down examining the anatomy of a him to Christ as to God these glorious riches that we have in in Philippians 25-1 um before we read the passage though there are conquests notable in the history of Philippi remember the letter of Paul to the Philippians is a letter by Paul to the church at Philippi and there are notable conquests in the history of that City the the namesake of the city itself comes from Philip II the king of Macedon father of Alexander the Great in the 4th Century he conquered the the Thracians the Wolves of the mountains as they were called and he set up a he set up that city as a prominent place in uh in Macedonian under Macedonian rule um acts 16 tells us that Philippi was a a chief City a foremost city of Macedonia a Roman colony and this is in large part due to uh Caesar Augustus you remember Caesar Augustus is that same Caesar Augustus of Luke 21 he is also known as Octavian the adopted son of Julius Caesar of that uh Shakespeare story Fame he conquered uh Philippi or he won a battle on the plains of Philippi in 42 BC against those who conspired to murder Julius Caesar and he set up a Roman Colony there we have greater victories there of course with regards to Sacred and religious things in Acts 16 Paul and Silas come on Paul's second missionary journey and there's a slave girl there possessed by a spirit of divination a spirit of python literally a demon possessing her giving her foresight and making her handlers money and Paul comes and annoyed the text says a a wholesome burning in indignation against the demon that had possessed her casts the demon out in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ greater still of course though is the victory under ging that one that Victory being the doing and the dying and the rising again of the Son of God the condescension the the conquest and the coronation of Jesus Christ and Philippians too these Philippians who had all of that history in their background these Philippians are uh Paul brings their minds to the point of reflection upon an early Christian hymn that he could have penned himself and he calls their minds to reflection upon the doing and the dying the rising again and the Glorious coronation of Jesus Christ the son of God well let's read beginning in Philippians 1:27 and finishing at Philippians 2:11 once again the word of God beginning in Philippians 1:27 only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or am absent I may hear of your Affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel and not in any way terrified by your adversaries which is to them a proof of predition but to you of Salvation And that from God for for to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here is in me therefore if there is any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any Fellowship of the spirit if any affection and mercy fulfill my Joy by being lik minded having the same love being of one Accord of one mind let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in loneliness of Mind Let each esteem others better than himself let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even the death of the Cross therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on Earth and of those under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father amen well let us go again to our God In Prayer Heavenly Father we thank you now for this time in worship and the preaching of your word that we would pray again Lord God that you would help us to have our minds focused upon your word and we pray that we would rejoice in it that we would learn from it that we would learn from you that we would be taught of God we pray Lord God for the preacher that you would give me that aid from on high to handle well the word of Truth we pray Lord God for those gathered here this morning that Saints would be be uplifted Lord God that Sinners would be saved and that once again a gathering would have been uh would have been carried out would have been completed that our gathering here would uh would have been for your Glory's sake and once again that Jesus Christ would be honored in this place that he would be named because it is possible with you by every tongue who leaves these doors this morning we pray be with us now for your Glory's sake through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well if we were to ask the question of the Bible uh what populated the pages of the hym book uh the hym books of the early church we would get uh uh without hesitation a very quick answer it would be the doing the dying and the rising again of the Son of God that was the the content of the hym books of our early saints that was the content of credal Christianity in the in the first century um in fact there's an there's a wonderful account uh um there was a letters exchanged in and around the year 112 ad by plyy the younger uh a governor of uh pontis and bethenia uh an exchange of letters between him and Emperor Tran the ruler of the Roman Empire at that time and you see what was going on was that the uh uh plyy the younger this governor was charged he was tasked with uh going in and investigating and interrogating Christians and he would come uh come across those perhaps uh you know charged as being Christians and he'd ask them if they were Christians uh if they weren't he'd ask them to prove it by uh you know by worshiping a statue of the Roman Emperor and by cursing Christ and if they said that they were Christians he would ask them to do the same thing and if they did do the same thing then he would realize okay these probably aren't Christians uh they're not Christians but if they didn't uh if they didn't worship the statue of the Roman Emperor and if they didn't curse Christ he would eventually put them to death and there's an interesting account he's been given testimony by those who said they were Christians and were not and he remarks after what Christians did in the early church and he notes this they all worshiped your image that is Emperor Tran and this isn't he's not talking about Christians he's talking about those who uh um said they were but weren't or those who denied Christ they all worshiped your image and the statues of the Gods and cursed Christ now one thing that's very interesting is that he says he says this they all worshiped your image in the statues of the Gods and cursed Christ I'm I'm going somewhere with this um but previously he remarked he wrote earlier in the letter that true Christians it is said cannot be forced to do these things I'm going to read this uh more in a moment but do you realize that the a pagan governor in the first century realized the truth in a sense of the perseverance of the Saints he remarked that true Christians cannot truly curse Christ and worship the image of the Roman Emperor they asserted however that the sumon substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed Day Before Dawn and sing responsively a hym to Christ as to a God and to bind themselves by oath not to some crime but not to commit fraud theft or adultery not falsify their trust nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so when this was over it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food but ordinary and innocent food if you're tracking with what I just read you see what Christians did 2,000 years ago 1900 years ago they did what we do every Sunday you see they respected the Sabbath it is their custom to uh meet on a fixed Day Before Dawn and sing responsively A Hymn to Christ as to God in the passage that we're going to be considering over the next number of Lord's days that's exactly what Philippians 2:5 to 11 has been called a himm to Christ is to God you see the the Blasphemous errors of the of of of the Heretics of our day who say that the doctrine of the deity of Christ was something manufactured by Constantine in the Council of NAA in the 4th Century rubs against the pagans witness here that these early Christians gathered together before Dawn probably because they were slaves of a lesser class and they sang hymns to Christ as to God the early church had hym books populated by this very thing the doing the dying and the rising again of the Son of God we're going to look this morning at just the exhortations exordium that is verse five alone but we want to do two things first we're going to look at the exhortations context we're calling this whole hymn an exhortation uh Philippians 2:5-11 because that's what it is it's the Apostle Paul bringing forth Christ Jesus the Lord as the Supreme example the best example truly the only example of true humility it's an exhortation for these Christians to be unified in Fellowship around the gospel of Christ and the pathway to that is true humility we're going to look at first the exhortations context and secondly the exhortation exordium let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus so first off then the exhortations context what is the book of Philippians what's going on in this book what's our context well we want to note that Philippians is a message of Thanksgiving if you have your Bibles open hopefully you do if you don't if you could open them you can turn to Philippians 1 if we have fingers moving that will keep us attentive message of Thanksgiving notice in Philippians 1 beginning in verse three I thank my God upon every remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will completed until the day of Jesus Christ now hopefully you you you've noticed in your reading of the Bible and perhaps perhaps noticing now that Philippians is a little bit different than some of Paul's other letters you see in the book of Philippians there's no there's no um hard rebuke and corrective like we find in the book of Galatians you know in the book of Galatians there's a very short greeting and then immediately Paul launches into a rebuke why are you so quickly turning away from the grace of God to another gospel which is no gospel at all we don't find that here we we find immediately Paul launching into thankfulness to God for the Philippians it's a message of Thanksgiving it's also a message of rejoicing notice in Philippians 1:18 just setting the context to the hymn to Christ as to God this is a message of Thanksgiving and it's also a message of rejoicing Philippians 1:18 what then only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth Christ is preached and in this I rejoice yes and Will Rejoice Philippians 2 and verse4 do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast the word of life so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain yes and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith I am glad and rejoice with you all for the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me you see Christians are to be a rejoicing people and this is in the context of them being opposed by adversaries enemies of the gospel of Christ they're suffering persecution they're not the uh uh they're not those who are the most welcome in that Roman colony and yet they are to Rejoice whether Paul's in prison or he's free whether they're in prison or they're free they are to rejoice in Jesus Christ the lord you know this helps us as Christians in the 21st century or it should indict us perhaps as Christians in the 21st century when we're not under this sort of persecution in the area that we live you see our Christianity is to be a Christianity that is marked by rejoicing we have the truth and reformed churches reformed Christianity of often hopefully not boasting sinfully but we have a we have this Pride that we have a grip upon the truth as it's been revealed by God we have a strong deposit of Faith handed down to us generation after generation but you see the truth isn't just to stop at rolling around in our minds it is to land upon doxology and it is to hit our hearts and come forth in rejoicing we are to be a rejoicing people holy affections after that one who lived who died who rose again to bring many sons to Glory it's a message of Thanksgiving it's a message of rejoicing and getting back to this point there are no Apostolic correctives really or rebukes issued by the Apostle Paul but there are some exhortations given we're going to start at large and then hone back upon our our passage but there are some exhortations given by the Apostle Paul one of them is to rejoice and beware notice in verse 1 of Philippians 3 finally my brethren rejoice in the Lord for me to write the same things to you is not tedious but for you it is safe beware of dogs beware of evil workers Beware of the mutilation it's an interesting coupling of exhortations there given by the Apostle Paul rejoice and beware you see their rejoicing is contingent upon their re rection of heresy he's saying Rejoice but you see that rejoicement uh that's a real word you can look it up that rejoicement can be stolen away or rendered anemic or even contradicted if you give ear to these Heretics if you give ear to these judaizers who are coming along saying that you need to be circumcised that you need to adhere to the Mosaic institutions in order to be justified before God your rejoicing will be r Ed null and void Rejoice but beware there's an exhortation given to follow Apostolic example and stand fast in the Lord Philippians 3:17 Brethren join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern and then Philippians 4:1 therefore my beloved and longed for Brethren my joy and Crown so Stand Fast in the Lord beloved so you see while this letter is devoid of those Galatians and 1 and 2 Corinthians rebukes and correctives there still are exhortations given to the church uh to the church here at Philippi and getting then back to the passage that we read notice two exhortations that are here leading up to the hymn to Christ as to God there is an exhortation to Unity in Philippians 1:27 through 29 notice in 1 127 only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or am absent I may hear of your Affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel there's this exhortation in our context to Unity the Christians are to seek after Unity the Christians at Philippi are not to be divided they're not to be fous they're not to be separate individualistic Christians they are to be unified and Paul wants this to be true not just externally he wants this to be true um at the point of Christian Integrity in other words he wants it to be truly true he wants these Christians to truly have a Unity he says whether I come and see you or am absent I may hear of your Affairs you see we're not just supposed to be Christians before men you know with this idea that we need to show them that we're Christians externally but you know when the eyes of a watching world or when the eyes of an apostle Paul uh are away from us we can then you know go about living uh like uh like Devils no we are to have a Christian Integrity whether we're here whether we're anywhere we are always to be those who are marked by such a conduct by such a conversation that is worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and you see that is what is is at stake notice what we have here that I may hear of your Affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel what is the point of Christian Unity but it is the very Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ Unity is not for unity's sake Unity is not so that we might just simply feel good as a gathered assembly as a local church but rather Unity is unto this end the faith of the Gospel it's its Proclamation its defense its propagation that it would be spread the very Gospel of the crucified Messiah is at stake when we discuss Church unity and that is why we always ought to seek after church unity and it's not a church Unity that is you know where we rally around the the the various rabbit Trails of sideline doctrines and those sorts of things it is to be a Unity around the faith of the Gospel the Triune God the deity of Christ justification by grace alone through faith alone In Christ Alone the Perfection of the atonement the amazing reality of God's Sovereign and Victorious Grace we rally around those things most surely believed Among Us that form of sound words and it's the very gospel that is at stake so he exhorts them to Unity he also then moves on to exhort them to humility and these things aren't separate one serves the purpose of the other he exhorts them to Unity rally around one another be of one Spirit of one mind and what is the way to do that how how do we put to death division how do we put to death disunity how do we put to to death fous spirits well we do it like verses 1 to 4 opens up for us therefore if there is any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any Fellowship of the spirit if any affection and mercy what he's doing here is not he he's saying when he says therefore if it is since it is the case that you have these things you can carry that weight since there is consolation in Christ because there is since there is comfort of Love Fellowship of the spirit affection and mercy then what fulfill my Joy by being likeminded having the same love being of one Accord of one mind let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in loneliness of Mind Let each esteem others better than himself let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others man doesn't that just rub up against our natural Humanity putting putting each other before ourselves we we want our own stuff we want to be satisfied we want our felt needs met we want everybody you know to to cater to us it is the natural inclination of men to tend towards a self-satisfaction you see the Gospel of Jesus Christ comes and it says have the mind of Christ have the disposition of Christ have the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ who has unmatched glory and as we'll get to in upcoming weeks but nevertheless condescended to be not not the one served but the one serving the one who serves and gives his life a ransom for many so this exhortation to Unity comes by the Apostle Paul to the Philippian Christians and the way to that Unity is through humility they are to put others before themselves they are to have lonliness of mind and they are to be found with humble not prideful spirits and what is at the center of all of this what is at the center of all of these exhortations what is at the heart of s uh the heart and center of the letter to the Philippian Church what is that the heart and center of Christianity well it is that one the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world Sinners to save who came from Heaven to save the sons of men to bring many sons to glory and to bring glory to his father the heart and center the very heartbeat of this letter is verses 5 to1 this glorious conquering King this Jesus Christ you see Philip II of maedon the king of Macedon was not to be their hero as Caesar Augustus who planted the Roman Colony there he was not to be their hero however many anthropomorphic Pagan deities they had in the pantheon of their gods prior to coming to Faith in the one and only living and true God they were not to be their Heroes but there was to be one Champion one king and one hero the Lord Jesus Christ which brings us then to the exhortations exordium in verse 5 what what is an an exordium it's a real fancy way of saying something that begins something see kids it's sometimes cool to have long words to say something that we could say much simpler but an exordium is something that begins something else and perhaps more specifically in oration or a discourse and an an exordium is that which begins it and we have that here in in verse 5 some examples just a brief sideline because some of you might find this interesting those who are men uh young men who are perhaps engaged in some wholesome courting um there was in the 17th century a a compilation of ways to address uh those ladies that catch uh your eye it was called uh compliment complimentary exordium to am grous Epistles that just simply means kids really neat ways of beginning a letter a love letter um and some of those exordium were you know to to the love of my life or to the flower of my affections those sorts of things some of the better ones are um uh to the to to the to the choice nutmeg of my sweetest consolation that's one of my favorites or to the to the uh um to the murderous to the fair murderous of my soul I think my favorite is to the Empress of my thoughts Tracy is the the Empress of my thoughts you see you young men we need to recover letter writing in the uh in the goings on of of wholesome cording you know our our world has been reduced to texting what's up that's that's the that's the that's the length and the scope of our of our Amorous epistle Beginnings now it's actually it's not even what's up anymore it's just su su we need to return the world to letter writing there you go man get take get your pinks get get your quills and your paper and start writing Amorous Epistles in a wholesome manner but getting back to the point here we have an exordium something that begins a discourse notice what we have in verse 5 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus this beginning of the exhortation which in one sense is the exhortation itself followed by the ground found in the foundation and the Very motivation for that exhortation let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus we want to do three things with our remaining time under this our second point and those three things are these some qualifications regarding Christ as example secondly the Bible's consistent use of Christ as example and then thirdly the exordium examined notice first off some qualifications regarding in Christ as example the text here reads let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus clearly the Apostle Paul is setting forth the Lord Jesus Christ as a supreme example in this case of humility and liness of mind that pathway to church unity and so Christ is being set forth here as an example but we want to qualify what um that means some qualifications regarding Christ as example we want to notice first off that he is not only nor is he primarily an example he is not only nor is he primarily an example you see the doing and the dying and the rising again of the Lord Jesus Christ is not just to establish a moral precedent for Christians in the 21st century or or any Century there are those out there in Liberal Christianity and and that sort of thing who will say that Christ's work really is simply boiled down to this he serves as a moral example his crucifixion and his resurrection that Resurrection which might not even be true according to them of course it's true but it just serves as an example that you know we're to follow a good moral precedent that is not how Christ is to be used he is wholesomely used as an example but we must qualify it and say that he is not only nor is he primarily an example you see Christian preaching of Christ is not to be some weak and dishonorable setting forth of a of a model to be followed Christian preaching of Christ is to set forth law and gospel before listening years so that men will be brought low so that Christ will be lifted high so that men will cast off their sin and self-righteousness and own Christ Jesus alone as their King and savior and so Christ is not only nor is he primarily an example we are to imitate a disposition and Not Duplicate a work so you see when we have here this let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus we're not to do as he did we are to be as he was and what we mean what we mean by that is we cannot of course because no no one can duplicate the work of the Lord Jesus Christ he's the one and only savior of men he's the one and only mediator between God and Men the man Christ Jesus he is the god man he is full in deity full in humanity save for sin we cannot do as Christ did because he is the one who once for all perfected and ratified uh Salvation for his people so we cannot do as he did but we are to be as he was that is we are to have that same mind that he had we are to imitate his attitude and his disposition which was what well in the context the the Apostle Paul is talking about loneliness of mind he's talking about humility what is the greatest example of humility ever to be executed in God's good creation it is Christ Jesus the Lord who came into this world not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many and Paul rightly goes to Christ doesn't he when he speaks with regards to uh or or when he's trying to exhort these Philippian Christians to humility what better place to go than the Lord Jesus Christ what better place to go if there was this temptation if there was this you see what might be going on here is that the Philippians are very prosperous spiritually remember they don't get Apostolic rebuke and correction they're doing okay they're doing well they're not the Galatians and they're not the Corinthians Paul thanks them time and again he calls them to Rejoice along with him it is going reasonably well in Philippi but you see inches away from spiritual Prosperity is still pride and self-righteousness and lest they fall into the pit of those sorts of things unless they seek after disunity instead of congregational Unity ah I'll set before them that prime example in case you guys are are are tempting the waters or testing the waters of jump jumping into pridefulness and disunity remember the Lord Jesus Christ whose mind are you to have why is loneliness of Mind a good idea and how is that a remedy to anything will look to Christ who Departed the praise of angels who left that pre-incarnate Majesty to take take to himself our nature to come into our world this lower shame this lower place of uh of baseness and sin he came down from heaven to Humble himself and as the text will later say to uh humble himself and become obedient to the point of death even the cross death in case you're seeking to exalt yourself in case you're seeking to be puffed up in vain Glory remember the Lord Jesus Christ who came from glory to this place of vanity in order to give himself for guilty Sinners the setting forth of Christ Jesus of an ex as an example is absolutely glorious but remember we're qualifying this he is not simply nor primarily an example lastly under that point this is not prescription for salvation but the prime example for the disposition of those who have given uh who have been given graciously the gift of Salvation in other words see Paul isn't saying here and if we track with the context we should never arrive at this idea but he's not saying that the path to exaltation that the path to salvific exaltation is to do as Christ did he's not saying that you need to be obedient like Christ was obedient in order to Merit the exalted favor of God that's not what Paul is saying this disposition of mind is not the pathway to our Salvation we're saved by grace through faith in Christ alone this loneliness of mind this attitude this disposition is rather that disposition that marks those who have been given graciously the gift of Salvation secondly then under the exort uh the exhortation exordium the Bible's consistent use of Christ as an example this isn't the only place that we find uh Christ set forth as an example by the apostles there's another place it well not only one place but there's a a couple other places that we have in Paul you can turn with me to First Corinthians Excuse Me 2 Corinthians 2 Corinthians chapter 8 in fact a very parallel passage to serve as an example for a different exhortation but a similar exhortation in this case Paul wants the Corinthians to give with liberality he wants them to to to cough up some money wholesomely for other churches and he wants them to to have that Grace of giving and notice what he says in 2 Corinthians what he writes in 2 Corinthians 8 beginning in verse 8 I speak not by commandment but I am testing the sincerity of Your Love by the diligence of others for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that you through his poverty might become rich you see what the hopefully the weight of this passage did to the Corinthian uh Christians you know see if they were gripping with this greedy grasp upon there's alliteration for you if they were gripping with this greedy grasp upon their wallet if they were holding holding tight that and not coughing up and giving with this grace of giving to the Macedonian churches if they were not giving graciously if they were just just latching on to that with no Grace of giving they would have been indicted you would hope if they had regenerate Hearts when they're confronted with the reality of this verse Christ Jesus who though he was rich yet for your sakes became poor that you through his poverty might become rich isn't that glorious and kids he's not talking about money there is he is he talking about Christ giving you know giving us money and becoming poor no what's he saying what do what does Paul mean here when he says though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that you through his pover poverty might become rich saying the same thing that he says in Philippians 2 5-11 that Christ though he is in the form of God though he did not consider that equality with God something to be held on to nevertheless he came in the Incarnation taking on the form of a bonder servant coming in the likeness of men humbling himself to the point of death through perfect obedience it's the Incarnation the Glorious condescension of the Son of God to our lower shame the lofty one coming low that we might be lifted High that's what Paul is getting at here he sets forth Christ and he sets forth glorious theology for the simple and express purpose of having them cough up money to give graciously to churches but nevertheless in setting forth Christ as an example he is bringing forth glorious truth concerning concerning his Incarnation you can turn with me as well to Hebrews 12 now you might be thinking of the verse verse two but that's not the passage I'm thinking of in Hebrews 12 though it does precede the one I'm talking about remember we're talking about Christ as an example the Apostle the Bible using Christ in order to exhort Christians unto a Christlike conduct notice in Hebrews 12 at: three for consider him who endured such hostility from Sinners against himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls remember what was going on in in the Hebrew uh uh in the Hebrew church here and the church in Jerusalem what was going on to the among those Jewish Christians they were being tempted to go back to Temple worship many who said they were Christians but were not were falling away back they under the weight of countrymen under the weight of family members under the weight of of unbelieving Jewish friends they're all being drawn back to Temple worship and they're casting off this Christ trampling under uh under their feet the Son of God you see they Christ had come the promised one had come the hero born of woman who had crush the serpent with his heel he had come he had rendered salvation he had brought to fruition and fulfillment and brought to an end all of those types and shadows that pointed forward to him why would you go back why would you fall under the the pressures of countrymen when they themselves are going back to now a Blasphemous worship because the Lamb of God has come the Passover has arrived the temple the Tabernacle all the all the the Washings and the ceremonies have converged now upon the Christ who came and gave his life a ransom for many don't go back and here is your example consider him Christ who endured such hostility from Sinners against himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls one more text and then we move on notice in First Peter this is a glor ious passage too and in the context in First Peter he's exhorting slaves to render obedience to their masters slaves are to exercise a conduct befitting their calling by grace and he sets forth Christ as an example notice in verse 21 he's talking about patiently enduring suffering Peter is in 1 Peter 2 and in verse 21 he WR writes for to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow his steps who committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth who when he was reviled did not revile in return when he suffered he did not threaten but committed himself to him who judges righteously who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we having died to sins might live for righteousness by whose Stripes you were healed take time on your own time and read this passage and and read the the the uh biblical texts that are in the background of this setting forth of an example what do we have clearly in the background the suffering servant of Isaiah Peter applying that rightly to the Lord Jesus Christ he uses Christ here as an example of obedience and humility before Masters in other words enduring uh suffering patiently when you're reviled do not revile in return Isn't Christ the perfect example of that you know unless we you know L we think ourselves uh something more than we are we need to look at the example of Christ when we think people are trampling Upon Our you know our our rights and our and our delicate sensitivities Christ Jesus Jesus when he was reviled did not revile in return when he was threatened he did not respond with threatenings but he he abandoned him abandoned himself to the will of the father you know we can so often be those who when we're reviled not only do we not not revile in return but we we quickly jump and we like to counter that reviling with reviling that is even worse that's the disposition of man we answer are reviling with reviling when we're threatened oh do we ever threaten back why because you've trampled on my whatever we need to have the mind of Christ when he was reviled he did not revile in return but patiently endured that suffering and committed himself to his father and Christians be like your master Christ so 2 Corinthians 88 8 to9 Hebrews 123 1 Peter 2 21-25 but did Christ ask this did Christ preach this did Christ say that his followers should follow after him absolutely one text in Matthew 11 and I love this text and you should too because not only does it touch upon our topic this morning but it is glorious truth notice in Matthew 11 verse 28 come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light you see there is something in this where Christ is setting forth a reality that we are to gain instruction by looking at his example take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart you see when Paul is saying be marked Philippian Christians by lowliness of Mind setting others interests ahead of those of your own and serving others he has Christ Jesus in mind of course because he writes verses 5 to 11 but Christ himself says learn from me and the reason is for I am gentle and I am lowly in heart what a glorious Christ that we have if you're here this morning no doubt he is and he is to be appreciated as a terror to you if you remain in your rejection of him he's that one before whom the Sinners and the rebels will call upon the rocks and the trees to cover themselves from his wrath from the Wrath of the Lamb He Goes Forth as a valiant Rider upon the white Steed the crushing enemies under his feet but you see to those who are his we have this blessed truth take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls if you're here this morning you're outside of Christ you have no rest for your soul you have no rest for your soul presently unless you're found in Christ believing in him finding in him every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ learn from me he says I am gentle and lowly in heart that is a verse that mounts that uh launches a thousand sermons but the point here is the Bible's use of Christ as an example while he is not primarily nor is he uh simply an example nevertheless we find in him an example and always what we find what what is the common theme in those examp examples that we read that the the Apostle Paul that the Apostle Peter bring forth to exort Christians to do this and that and the other thing what did they have in common the Cross of Christ the the this sounds strange the highest ACT of humility the most glorious Act of humility in the history of the world Christ coming down from the Pinnacle of Glory to our lower shame to give himself for guilty Sinners shame on us as Christians in this church as Christians in any church when we think ourselves to be something that we're not when we think that we should be served rather than serving others when we put our interests always ahead of those of the church or those of others when we're not marked by loneliness of mind but we're marked by this self uh self- attending attitude Where We Are All About Me Myself and I we are to have have the mind of Christ putting others ahead of ourselves lastly then under the E uh the exhortations exordium we want to examine the exordium itself and the first thing we notice is that we are to have a Christian mind let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus you see there there is a a negative and a positive reality to this we are not to have unregenerate or worldly Minds in fact the Apostle Paul says that himself in the book of Philippians in chapter 3 at: 19 uh beginning though in verse 17 Brethren join in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern for many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ whose end is destruction whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame who set their mind on Earthly things you see the setting of a mind on Earthly things is the mark not of the Christian but of the unregenerate they set their mind on Earthly things kids that doesn't mean that you can't think about a yummy cookie or something like that what it means is that their minds are governed their minds are fascinated their minds are entrenched in everything the world has to offer to the exclusion of Father Son and Holy Spirit in the glory of the Gospel having Minds corrupted having Minds bent on their corruption in sin they seek Earthly things and not those things of Heaven what follows after that verse 20 for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself we are to have not unregenerate or worldly Minds that seek after Earthly things but we are to seek after those things that are above where Christ is it's an interesting text in 2 Corinthians 11:3 and I want to very briefly relate it to what we'll cover in future Lord's days concerning this hymn to Christ as to God turn to 2 Corinthians 11:3 on this idea that negatively we are not to be marked as Christians by an unregenerate or a worldly mind no notice in 2 Corinthians 11 2 Corinthians 11 and verse one oh that you would bear with me in a little Folly and indeed you do bear with me for I am jealous for you with Godly jealousy for I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ but I fear lest somehow as the serpent received Eve by his craftiness so your minds may be corrupted from the Simplicity that is in Christ see here firstly we have this reality that our minds are not to be corrupted by the deceitful things of This World by those that the unregenerate follow after we are not to be I fear he writes lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness so your minds may be corrupted from the Simplicity that is in Christ now bear with me for just one moment many have seen in Philippians 2 5-1 not simply though still gloriously but not simply a rehearsal of the doing in the dying and the rising again and the exaltation of Christ but the reality of the two Adams the first Adam and the second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ you see we are not to have Minds as that first first Adam who was deceived by Eve through the deceiving of the devil and thrusted Mankind and his progeny into sin and death but we are to have the mind of Christ and in this case of Philippians 2 we are to have a mind that seeks to be lowly that seeks to be marked by humility that seeks to put others before ourselves when we get to a more consideration of The Obedience rendered by Christ in this Hymn of Christ as to God will make more of a remark after the first and second adom but it is interesting there we're not to put on a mind that is to be like Adams we are to have the mind of Christ do not be such as have Minds poisoned by the deceitfulness of sin but rather those who are invigorated who act after the things of Christ and the things of his truth we don't have time but you can make a note positively of course this means a regenerate and renewed mind that contemplates and acts upon the truth of God in Philippians 1:27 Philippians 2 2 and 3 Philippians 3:15 and 16 and Philippians 4:7 we have the Apostle Paul bringing that contrast out that we are to have the mind of Christ a mind that is regenerate Christian contemplating and acting upon the truth of God now secondly under examining this exordium we want to note that the Christian mind Finds Its prototype in Christ Jesus the Lord this is John Ed he writes this he says this humility is one of the distinctive features of Christianity for it rests in absolute dependence upon God for everything some of the Heathen sages might arrive at its meaning so far as creaturely relations could teach it but that meaning is unworthiness oh excuse me but that meaning is immeasurably deepened by the aspect of a sinner's relation to a redeemer who died for him in his state of utter unworthiness bestows upon Him blessings to which he has no claims and not withstanding all his demerits maintains the spiritual life within him you see what he's saying here the humility that is to Mark us is marked by ones who have it is the foundation of it is seen in the fact that we have a redeemer not just some general you know revelatory aspect that you know it's good to be humble but rather that we have a redeemer who went before us who gave himself for our sins and we are to be like that prototype our Lord Jesus Christ Ed writes in another place now the example of Christ is living legislation law embodied and pictured in a perfect Humanity not only is this your duty because there is precept for it but it is your duty because there is the noblest of all models for it you see there everybody pay attention here for a moment our duty to have this loneliness of mind is not only found found in that the Bible sets it forth as a precept but in what he says here that we have the noblest of all models for it we have a dual motivation the fact that God commands it and it ought to be our cheerful compliance to have this loneliness of mind but also because we have the noblest and chiefest of examples in Christ Jesus the Lord we are to be humble because our master was humble we are to have loneliness of heart because the redeeming King was lowly in heart and lastly the specific disposition of Mind in view of course is loneliness generally we are to have Christian Minds generally we are to Mark be marked by regenerate Minds that seek after the truth of God that act upon it that contemplate it and put it in action but the spe specific disposition of Mind in view is loneliness let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of Mind Let each esteem others better than himself let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others just a two places before we close and then pray notice the consistency of the Apostle Paul here with this declaration with this exhortation with what he wrote In the book of Romans you can turn to Romans 12 you know there's a simple application here before we read from Romans 12 there's a simple application here for all of us you know very often the the passage of scripture just speaks for itself and the preacher often times maybe doesn't have to go uh overboard and uh approach 12:30 with things but the simple application Brethren hopefully you can roll this around in your minds as you leave church to well actually as you talk to one another before you leave and as you leave and go about your week and return next Lord's Day here's the application where to have the same mind that was in Christ there's the application we're to have loneliness of mind the specific disposition in view is loneliness not to be about ourselves we're not to come into into church and the the first thing reigning in our minds it's it's not to be what you know what what do I get what do I want to what do I want to see what do I want to change what do I want to have them do up there what do I want other people to give me what do I want the Joneses to bring to the family fellowship luncheon no that you can think that you can send them an email and have them bring one of their best meatballs you see the point here what the point the point is we're to be marked by a loneliness of mind the unbelieving world is not marked by that the natural inclination of men is marked not by loneliness of mind not by a perfect example is what we see in the streets recently we all want to be Vindicated we all want our rights and whatever our thoughts are whatever our felt needs are we want to be Vindicated so much so that we'll trample on other people to have loneliness of Mind search your Bibles read your Bibles find Christ there and in Christ find you're blessed and chief example notice this loneliness of mind is brought forth by the Apostle Paul in Romans 12 beginning in verse 14 bless those who persecute you bless and do not curse Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep be of the same mind toward one another do not set your mind on high things but associate with the humble do not be wise in your own opinion you see he's saying the same things here be of the same mind toward one another there's a Unity that should be there do not set your mind on high things but a associate with the humble isn't it have you ever maybe you can think about this now your best company that you've ever been in is it with prideful people it's really annoying to be around people who are just full of Pride you know you're you know this illustration has been used a lot before but you're you know you're telling a story you're opening your heart and you can just see them they're either not looking at you which when it when someone's talking to you kids adults look into their eyes I got to tell you I you know I'm easily and perhaps sometimes sinfully annoyed when I'm I'm talking to somebody and genuinely I'm not just talking hey the weather hey the Canucks but talking to somebody and they're they're looking over there like that oh yeah and they're looking away don't do that don't do that but when you're when you know you're you're talking to somebody and you're you're opening up your heart or it's a serious conversation you can see them just itching to tell them all to tell you all about themselves to wait to one up your story you know my fish was bigger my boat was shinier my car is faster my wipe out on a bike was bigger everything all about themselves the prideful the boastful everybody's awesome don't be that way do not set your mind on high things but associate with the humble be one of those people that people want to associate with be humble put on the mind of Christ wear the heart of Christ set yourself low what does the Bible say those who set themselves low and humble themselves they will be exalted in fact that's one of the points of the Apostle Paul not that we'll be exalted by virtue of meritorious Deeds Done in obedience to God that if we humble ourselves God will reward us with a salvific exaltation but the humble will be exalted the last will be first humble yourselves be like Christ who came into this world not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many the next few Sundays we'll open up this hymn to Christ as to God and as we open it up hopefully in the back in the four of your minds you'll be thinking about that Christ first and foremost what he did for you first and foremost his doing and his dying his Rising again his glorious exaltation but also brothers and sisters how can I be more like that Christ how can I be humble lowly of heart lowly in mind how can I be like my master and if anybody's here this morning and you don't know this Christ savingly you've never confest him as your lord and savior rejoice in him believe in him know him know this that there was that time where the Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on a cult the full of a donkey gentle and and lowly in heart there will be a time coming though whereas this him to Christ as to God ends every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father father some like you if you're unbelieving will be forced in the presence of his majesty and in his glory to confess him as Lord and to bend your knee before he casts you into the Lake of Fire reserved for the devil and his angels don't wait until that day to see that righteous and Furious Christ wholesome in his anger rebuke you and cast you into the Lake of Fire forsake your sin believe on the master the Lord our redeeming King the Lord Jesus Christ the better than Philip II the infinitely better than Philip II and Caesar Augustus the Glorious champion of Philippi and every other place that names the name of Christ believe in him and you shall have everlasting life let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this text of scripture we rejoice in what it discloses to us concerning the Majesty of Christ and also the point the condescension of Christ to that point of humility we pray that you would help us Lord God in our doings in our kns about in this lower World in our in our dealings with one another in this church that you would help us not to be puffed up in vain glory and to be uh selfish but rather to have that mind of Christ lowly in heart lonliness of Mind help us to manifest that Lord and we do pray that you would go with us now to strengthen your people throughout this day we pray Lord God that you would save Sinners that your word being proclaimed by a fallible preacher but the word itself being infall infallible you being glorious and your Sovereign power might you Open Hearts might you change hearts and might you change unregenerate Minds to those Minds by your Saving Grace who lay hold of the riches and the excellencies of so great a king and Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ and it's in his name that we pray amen well if you'll stand with me let's sing the doxology as a gathered church it's Roman numeral 16 in your hym books or you may know it by heart let's stand and sing the doxology [Music] bless all [Music] prise father [Music] andly now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest and by the prophetic scriptures made known to All Nations according to the Commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith to God Alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever amen please be seated when the piano's finished playing you're dismissed