Well, I think we could probably go home now. That was beautiful, standing and singing that last stanza a cappella. One of my favorite hymns, and it sounds great with the piano, but it also sounds great being sung with the voices of the people unaccompanied. Let's turn in our Bibles to the book of Galatians.
Galatians 5, as we continue to work through the book of Galatians. You'll remember last time, or you may remember last time, that we were in Galatians 5, and we started to look at verses one to six, and we only got so far as one, because of the glory of the subject matter, of course, and not the preacher's handling of the text. But we noted that it's quite the epic statement that begins this particular chapter. This very heavy statement, stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be tangled again with the yoke of bondage.
A wonderful command of liberty that we noted that this chapter begins with. I'm going to read Galatians 5, 1 to 6, and then we'll just remind ourselves a little bit of what we looked at last time, only quickly, and then move to verses 2 through 6. So the Word of God, Galatians 5, 1. Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
The Twofold Warning
Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
The Twofold Severance
You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law. You have fallen from grace.
Spirit-Wrought Confidence
For we, through the Spirit, eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. Amen. Well, let's pray.
God, thank you for this time together in worship. We thank you that we can gather together here in freedom and in liberty to worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to glory in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do help us now, once again, in this time of preaching. Be with us.
Might you be honored and glorified. Might Christ be rejoiced in, and might all of this be unto the praise of your most glorious grace. And we pray in Christ's name, amen.
Introduction and Review
Well, just a reminder that Paul's letter to the Galatians has one chief burden or one chief concern, and that's to combat the pernicious error affecting the churches of Galatia by exalting the reigning truth that is to be confessed by the churches, justification by faith alone, and by clearly stating the implications of rejecting that truth for error. That is the chief burden, the chief concern of the apostolic energy expended in the writing of this letter. The last time we looked at the command of liberty and noted that there are two imperatives driven by one indicative. That simply means that there are two calls to action that are based upon one statement of truth.
Those two calls to action were stand fast therefore in the liberty and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage, the governing and informing truth being that Christ has made us free. And so we looked at Christ as deliverer, as the promised deliverer in the Old Testament, and as the accomplished and having come deliverer in New Testament revelation, noting that our status in Christ is as one having been liberated. from the dominion, guilt, and condemnation of sin, from the grip of the devil, from the condemnation of death, and from the yoke of the ceremonial law, which is one of the primary things in view with regards to this particular epistle. The impositions of the false teachers of a return to the ceremonial law upon the consciences of the churches of Galatia in order to be, the obedience to which, in order to be justified before God. We noted how do Christians stand fast in the liberty which they have secured by Christ?
We noted by knowing the liberty that they have, studying it, learning it, rejoicing in it, by being on guard in that liberty, by daily living upon the ground of acceptance, which is not us, not ourselves, but Christ him crucified and resurrected. By standing in the company of other free men and women, That is, coming to church, availing of the public assemblies where God condescends to be with His people. By an unyielding contention, expecting assault. That is, earnestly contending for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Holding fast the hope of our calling without wavering and expecting assault. by remembering the bondage that is casting our minds upon our former selves, but then of course immediately flying to Christ who has brought us forth from the darkness of sin to life in him. And lastly, by being upheld by the spirit. And we noted, we closed by noting with regards to do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage, that imagery is taken from beasts of burden who had a yoke, a wooden implement placed on their neck or shoulders to facilitate the plowing of fields, and that this has a specific application to the ceremonial law. So we move now to to two things.
We looked last time again at the command of liberty. Now
The Forfeiture of Liberty
we were going to look at the forfeiture of liberty and then the exercise of liberty following the text that we have before us. So first, the forfeiture of liberty, that's a interesting word, and as it seems, a hard one to say. That simply means the surrender or the casting off of a right or privilege. So the surrender, the casting off of a right or privilege or benefit.
So the forfeiture, the casting off of liberty, verses two to four, and we see first, Notice, indeed, I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised, that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. So there is a twofold warning here. If you become circumcised, They are to forfeiture or surrender the liberty that is held forth to them in the gospel.
As we'll see, it's not the case that they can fall away from grace, properly speaking, that is from the state of grace. They cannot lose the salvation secured for them by Christ. But for those who are navigating within the sphere of gospel proclamation, if they are stolen away by these false teachers, there is no hope, and the Christ that they profess, so-called profess, will profit them nothing. But let's look at this two-fold warning.
First we see, if you become circumcised, well, actually, first, let's make an important note. of the language that introduces the two warnings. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you. That is to come with a great measure of weight. I, Paul, say to you, because we have Paul opening up his letter by saying, Paul, an apostle, not from man nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.
When he says, Indeed, I, Paul, say to you, it comes with the whole freight and weight of his apostolic authority as being appointed by God to be that apostle to the Gentiles, in this case that apostle to the Galatians. It carries the weight of that that Philippians 3 reality of Paul reflecting upon his former self as one who sought to be confirmed and affirmed and loved by God and accepted by God by virtue of the ceremonial law, as one who was a Pharisee, as one who was circumcised the eighth day, as one who was of the tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of the Hebrews. But now that Paul, having been saved by amazing and victorious grace, is writing to them, and he comes to them with the weight of indeed I Paul. That apostle, that one, put into the apostolate by the very power of God that is behind the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
So we look then at this twofold warning. If you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. There's no way to wriggle out of that. It's not a mysterious saying.
It's not some ethereal saying. It comes with a blessed clarity. If you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. If you haven't heard anything that I've said yet, if you haven't read anything that I've written yet, know this, that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
If you seek to add to the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that Christ is going to profit you nothing. the language or the weight of theology, blessed reality, blessed redemption that rests in the background, and the heaviness of the statement in view is Galatians 2.21. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. If you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. seeking to be justified by anything other than the perfect righteousness of Christ is to act Excuse me, Paul is not speaking of circumcision here. I'm reading a future point.
Paul is not speaking of circumcision here as cultural, but as salvific, performed in order to be accepted by God. If anyone adds to the righteousness of Christ, he has rendered Christ's work as vanity. That's the implication. The weight of Galatians 2.21 is repeated here in the weight of Galatians 5.2.
You can turn with me to Romans 11 for a moment just to see something similar in Romans chapter 11 with regards to this twofold warning and the non-profitability of a thing. if you seek to avail of anything other than the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 11, notice what we read here at verse six. Well, just backing up a little bit. verse five, even so, then at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works.
Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace. Otherwise, work is no longer work. You see the the weight of that if by grace, then it is no longer of works.
Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. The idea that we can traffic that, you know, professing Christians or within the realm of some pseudo-Christian approach to religion, that we can use the word grace and navigate in the realm of grace, but somehow smuggle in our own sanctification, smuggle in our own works and our own obediences in order to avail before a thrice holy God is to engage in great folly. It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And if it is by grace alone, through faith alone, then it is not by works.
And if it is in Christ alone, and by Christ alone, then it is certainly not according to or by us. And so this warning comes, if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.
Debtor to the Whole Law
And there is a second warning, which is, I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. Paul is saying here that submitting to circumcision as necessary unto salvation is to submit to the entirety of the law for your requirement. It's the thrust of the text. Every man who becomes circumcised, he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
You see the weight of this. You're not just Galatians being stolen away by these false teachers. You're not just required then to engage in this circumcision. You require that personal, perpetual, entire, and perfect obedience to the entirety of the divine law in order to be accepted.
This is to come as a weight of weights upon the souls and upon the consciences of these. You forsake Christ if you seek to be circumcised. And not only that, you're a debtor to keep the whole law. Paul had already stated this earlier in Galatians, in Galatians 3, beginning at verse 10.
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them.
Quoting the Old Testament there, the one who seeks to live by the law or the one who seeks to work in accordance with the law to be accepted by God must live according to it and must engage in perfect rendering of obedience if they're to be accepted before a holy God. Of course, the prophets, Moses, knew the impossibility of this. The prophets knew the impossibility of this. Jesus knew the impossibility.
The apostles knew the impossibility. That's why free grace is held forth as that blessed means whereby anyone can be brought into the kingdom of the Son of the Father's love. There's a reason our church is called Free Grace Baptist Church and not obedience to the law of Baptist Church, is because the thrust and the weight and the glory of Christianity is not found in the fallen man's obedience to the law, as if fallen man, as if even redeemed man, could somehow obey in such a way that God would accept them salvificly by virtue of their performance. The performance of one avails with God, and that is the doing, the dying, and the rising again of the Son of God incarnated.
Free grace. We have been redeemed freely by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3. And there is, of course, no other way.
If you seek any other way, then you are a slave to that way. And you are then, as we come now to the twofold severance, you are estranged from Christ and you have fallen from grace. So we have this twofold warning in verses two and three, and then we have a twofold severance in verse five. you have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace. There's this twofold cutting off.
You're estranged from Christ and you're fallen from grace. Let's just treat that first clause briefly. Seeking to be justified by anything other than the perfect righteousness of Christ is to act as if there is no Christ. You've become severed, you've become cut off from Christ.
Just think about the folly and the madness of wanting to add our own deeds, our own righteousnesses, our own proclivities, our own obedience to the one who is perfect and glorious in his person and in his work. What a madness that we would, as it were, patch upon the perfect blood-washed white robes of Christ's righteousness and salvation, our own filthy rags and our own filthy so-called righteousnesses, even legitimate righteousnesses. That we would somehow seek to join to the perfect and glorious work of Christ, our own obediences, whatever they may be, whether they be the law of God or our own preferences and our own things heaped upon the law of God, as if they were the law of God itself. Luther on this particular point wrote, for Christ alone justifies me in opposition to my evil works and without my good works.
So, wonderful statement. That's the heartbeat of every Christian. For Christ alone justifies me in opposition to my evil works and without my good works. If I feel this way about Christ, I grasp the genuine Christ.
But if I think that he demands the law and works for me as a condition for righteousness, then he has become of no advantage to me, and I am severed from him. You have become estranged from Christ you who attempt to be justified by law, and then notice you have fallen from grace.
Falling from Grace Defined
We ought to note that this is not a fall from the state of grace, but from the principle or scheme of grace as a ground of justification. No one can, that is no Christian, no true believer, no saint of the living Christ can fall away from grace. And we'll look at that in a moment. But again, this means not a fall from the state of grace, but from the principle or scheme of grace as the ground of justification.
The one who seeks to be justified by law has abandoned grace as a system, the gospel of grace as a blessed scheme. He has stepped off, if you will, the platform of free justification and onto a platform of works. Luther, again, one simple statement that is, you are no longer in the realm of grace. or pool. Ye are fallen from grace, and they by this renounce the grace of God exhibited in the gospel, and fell from the grace of it.
For by grace here is not to be understood a state of grace, from which none can fall totally and finally, but the grace of the gospel, by which is signified the free love of God in it exhibited, offering Christ to sinners for righteousness."
Perseverance of the Saints
I think it's good for us at this point just to explore the Bible and understand because some have taken this verse to mean that a Christian can fall from the salvation that he or she previously enjoyed. The Bible sets before us everywhere The opposite, that the perseverance of the saints, as we've called it, divine preservation. Turn with me for a moment just for a helpful reflection upon a particular reality that John gives us with regards to this point in 1 John 2. 1 John 2. This is, if these in Galatia, were to fall from grace as we've defined it and as we've stated it, then this that John writes in 1 John 2, 18 to 19 is the reality behind it.
Little children, 1 John 2, 18, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us.
There's a threefold repetition there with regards to the reality of the fact that a true Christian does not depart from the Christian faith. Those who do depart, it's simply the fact that they were never truly of us, because if they were, they would have remained with us. You can turn with me to the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John, among many other things that it discloses, in disclosing chiefly the glory of the incarnate Son of God, we see in a number of places the perseverance of the saints, the fact that Christians cannot fall properly from that state of grace that they are in by grace to the glory of God.
Notice first in John 6. John 6, in a familiar address of Holy Scripture, verse 37. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.
This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all He has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the last day. Blessed, blessed Savior. Coming into this lower shame, coming into this lower world, sinners to save, and saving perfectly.
Notice in John chapter 10. In John 10, one of my favorite places of Holy Scripture, verse 27, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.
That's a verse of blessed consolation and blessed peace to the soul of a sinner saved by amazing and victorious grace. Our triune God has us in the inviolable grip of divine strength and power, and he never lets us go. What a glorious God that we have. You can turn with me, you could note John 17, 11 to 12, but turn with me to the book of Romans.
Romans 8, another passage that hopefully is a boon to your Christian soul in Romans 8, with regards to this theme of the perseverance of the saints. First in Romans 8, 29 and 30, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called, whom he called, these he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified." And the whole complex there, but verses 38 and 39. and 39, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You know, that ought to be a place either that we go to physically with our fingers in the Bible or that we call from the diary of our memory and reflect upon the blessed truth that lies therein. For the Christian, there is nothing that will separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
What a wonderful thing. And then just one other one, but not exhausting the testimony to this blessed truth, you can turn with me to Hebrews 7. Hebrews 7, speaking of the current session of Christ as our blessed and majestic intercessor, notice in Hebrews 7, at verse 25, well, to build up, Let's start at verse 22, after sort of comparing the priesthood, the old priesthood, with the priesthood of Christ, the surpassing better priesthood of Christ, who is the surety of a better covenant. We read in verse 23, also there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing, but he, that is Christ, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. This is one of the reasons, one of the many reasons, the other texts we read are some of the other reasons. This is one of the reasons why C.H. Spurgeon called the gospel that preaches, which is no gospel at all, that preaches that a man can lose his salvation, Spurgeon said something like, such a gospel I abhor.
Because he always, the living Christ, he always lives to make intercession for us. What a wonderful thing when we stumble on a Tuesday in sin, and stumble on a Wednesday in sin, and then every day after that, and every hour of those days, when we, in our remaining corruption, do not always love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Praise God that we have an intercessor, the risen and exalted Christ, who always lives to make intercession for us. What a blessing and what a boon to our Christian souls.
So the truth is, of course, not that we can fall from the state of grace, Christians, but rather, and again, that those who are not Christians, who have trafficked in that realm or that sphere of grace, the gospel's proclamation, they can sever themselves from that reality by following after these false teachers.
The Exercise of Liberty
And then, lastly, we close with the exercise of liberty, finding our way back to Galatians 5, the exercise of our liberty. Notice what we have in verses five and six. First, we see spirit-wrought confidence, and secondly, we see the operation of Christian faith. For we, through the Spirit, eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. So first, spirit-wrought confidence. We see here the certain expectation of glory because of the work of Christ and based not on flesh but resting upon the power of the testifying spirit. You can back up with me to Galatians 3 for a moment.
In Galatians 3 we saw something of this. just at the outset of that particular chapter, are you so foolish, three, three, having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? You see, the exercise of Christian liberty doesn't turn from the Spirit and seek by the flesh to be justified before a righteous and a holy God, but remaining with the Spirit, we, through the Spirit, eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Now, this is not waiting for that justifying righteousness, because justification is a now reality. It's not a future justification.
It is a now and abiding and immovable justification in Jesus Christ. And so this waiting for the hope of the righteousness by faith is the certain expectation of glory in the consummation when the perfect work and righteousness of Christ comes to that perfect application in the eschaton, this is the language here of John Gill, but eternal glory and felicity is here intended, called hope, because it is the object of hope, or is what is hope for. It is unseen as what is hope for us. It is future, and what is to be enjoyed hereafter, and therefore hope for.
It is certain, excuse me, it is certain, possible to be enjoyed, though with difficulty, which gives room for hope, and exercises and tries that grace. The foundation and encouragement of hope in it are the person, blood, sacrifice, and righteousness of Christ, who is our hope. And hence it is styled the hope of righteousness, because none but righteous persons shall enjoy it. Gil captures the essence of what the Apostle Paul is trying to emphasize in his letter to the Galatian churches here.
And it's in this blessed language. Our hope is in the person, blood, sacrifice, and righteousness of Christ. Why would anyone made alive by the grace of Christ seek to add circumcision, to add the cutting off of the foreskin to the person, blood, sacrifice, and righteousness of Christ? Why would anyone seek to add their own obedience to add their own sanctification as that which is required before a holy God to enter into the hope of glory.
No, it all rests in the person, blood, sacrifice, and righteousness of Christ, who is our hope. That is our spirit-wrought confidence.
Faith Working Through Love
And then, lastly, we see the operation of Christian faith. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love. Now that word avails, you hear it a lot. Well, you read it in the Bible and you hear it also from the pulpit.
What does avails mean? It means having power, It means having the ability to affect something, to be effective, having force. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have any power or have any force, but faith working through love. The word is used in a legal sense in Hebrews 9, 17, for a testament is in force after men are dead since it has no power or does not avail at all while the testator lives.
And it's translated, the Greek word is translated again to the English avails in James 5, 16, the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And so circumcision and uncircumcision have no power or have no force with respect to salvation, with respect to Christianity, with respect to our walk as saints of the living Christ, but rather faith working through love. And notice here, with respect to that which does not avail and that which does avail. That which does not avail.
It says neither circumcision nor uncircumcision. Circumcision gives no privilege, no vantage point of favor under the divine eye. And uncircumcision does not bar from enjoying the benefits of grace. In fact, the apostle had already essentially touched on this back at the end of Galatians 3.
Notice the language there in Galatians 3 beginning at verse 26. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Long ago, when we were looking at this particular, these sets of verses, this set of verses, and specifically verse 28, we noted that Paul here is counteracting, if you will, the Jewish male prayer. Thank God that I'm not a Greek or not a Gentile. Thank God that I'm not a slave.
And thank God that I'm not a woman. Here, the Apostle Paul says, there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And so getting back to our text, it's the same weight of emphasis, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything. It's Christ alone who avails, and the Christian by Christ avails through faith in Him.
We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. And so that which does avail is faith working through love. Our confession quotes this, Thus, receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness is the alone instrument of justification, yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love. Quoting James, or a veiling of, James 2, 17, 22, and 26.
James 2, 17, really 17 through 26. Faith working through love. An alive faith, a faith that is Christian faith, is that which is no dead faith but works through love. John Gill captures it this way.
Faith has a concern. in justification and salvation, not by way of causal influence. So it's not that by this faith working through love, by that in us and by that active, we somehow merit our salvation. No, not at all. Faith has a concern in justification and salvation, not by way of causal influence, but as it is that grace which receives the righteousness of Christ through which we are saved and kept by the power of God unto salvation.
Yet not any sort of faith, but that which is operative is attended with good works and which works itself by love to God, Love to Christ, love to his people, ways, worship, truths, and ordinances. The Syriac version renders it which is perfected by love that is showed to be right, true, and genuine thereby, which is the emphasis of James 2, by the way, not that we're justified by our works, but that our works testify to the veracity of our faith, and so love, testifies to the veracity of our faith when we have love to God, love to Christ, love to the brethren, and love to the ordinances of God.
Application
Well, just in closing, in two minutes and 13 seconds, two things. We want to note where true confidence resides, and we get this every time we look at the Apostle Paul writing to the churches in Galatia, where true confidence resides, not in the law or obedience to it, but on the testifying spirit and the finished work of Christ. The Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are the children of God because we lay hold of the only hope of everlasting life, which is Jesus Christ. Him having performed obedience to the law, Him having died as a sacrifice and having been raised as the blessed champion of man's salvation.
That's where true confidence lies and where true power or true force or true efficacy lies, not in the right of circumcision, not in the flesh, but in Christ received by faith, and that faith working through love. We're saved by Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and those so saved have a faith that works through love. And this is something that we ought to have as Christians. What ought to mark Christians in Free Grace Baptist Church, what Gil observed there, love to the triune God, love to that Christ who came into this world, sinners to save, love to the brethren as we're commanded throughout the scriptures, Christ and his disciple, John, in 1 John and elsewhere, love to the brethren, and love for the church and love for her ordinances.
It's a blessed thing that we can be here right now as Christians, availing of the worship of the triune God, having been the undeserved but blessed recipients of amazing and victorious grace. Let's close this Lord's Day and go into this upcoming week in the confidence, not in our own flesh, but in the Spirit, with confidence in the life, the blood, the sacrifice, and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Let's pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your truth. We thank you for your word that we're able to read, that we're able to avail of, that we're able to take into our souls. We thank you that by the Spirit our minds can be illuminated according to your revelation. We do pray that you would help us to have that proper confidence. to know where proper trust and proper confidence lies in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, in salvation by Him.
We thank you for that blessed work. Might you cause us to be those who are marked by faith, working through love, that we would have love to you, love to our blessed Savior, love to the brethren, and love for the ordinances of the church and for the reality that you have given to your Christians, the church, that we might avail of worship, avail of the sacraments, avail of the discipline within the blessed walls of Christ's churches. And we do pray that you'd go with us into this week, help us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and help us to return again in seven days that we might gather together again as the saints of Christ, worshiping Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we pray in Christ's name, amen.