I invite you to take your Bibles and turn to Philippians chapter 1. We'll be camping out this day in Philippians chapter 1 this morning and chapter 4 this evening. I'll be reading verses 1 through 18, Philippians chapter 1. Hear now the word of the Lord. Paul and Timothy bond servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I'm confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. For God is my witness, how I long for you with all the affliction of Christ Jesus. And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Now, I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else. and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, I will rejoice. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God abides forever. Let's ask God's blessing upon our time of study this morning. Let's pray. Lord our God, we acknowledge that your word is sharper than any two-edged sword, but is able to divide between the very thoughts and the very intentions of our hearts. You pray, Lord God, that we might yield our hearts up to you this day, this hour, that we might, the Holy Spirit might use the word of God and carve up our hearts. And Lord, that where there is faith, that you might increase that faith 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold, And Lord, that where there's an absence of faith, that you by your grace might bring that faith. We pray, oh God, that you give us eyes to see and ears to hear the marvelous truth of your scripture. For it's in Christ's blessed name we pray, amen. You know, we Christians tend to be a fickle people, a changeable, inconsistent people. Our joy in the Lord is often like a roller coaster. It's up, then it's down, it's up, then it's down, and it's up, then... Is it not amazing how even a minor thing can remove our joy? A clogged up sewer line, a loss of electricity, a flat tire, or major things in life. For instance, a change for the worse in health, job, finances, schooling, education, personal relationships, other important areas of life can easily cause a believer to question the Lord, to question his sovereign wisdom, to question his gracious provision. And when that happens, joy is usually the first thing to go out the door. And when things like this happen suddenly, believers are often taken off guard, and as a result, there's often anger, and doubt, and trust, distrust, and fear, self-pity, ingratitude, complaining. In such cases, though, circumstances and events themselves may not be sinful, they may lead to sinful responses and steal our joy. And Christians very often, facing such circumstances, walk away from the Lord. And they ask questions like, why me? Why this? Why now? And where are you, Lord? Well, Paul, writing on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, addresses these questions. Indeed, he gives answer in our text this morning for exposition. So as many of you know, I only preach one-point sermons. one-point sermons. And the sermon this morning is that, Christian, make the most out of your difficult circumstances in life to testify of God's grace to Christ's glory. Make the most out of your most difficult circumstances in life to testify of God's grace in Christ. Now, the Apostle Paul after many years, is writing to this congregation that's located in a city called Philippi. Philippi was a Roman colony just north in the Aegean Sea. It's located in Greece. Paul's letter is a thank you letter to this congregation for the various ways that they've been supportive of his ministry in the past. They believe the word that he preached to them. They supported him with their prayers. They provided for many of his material needs, and they even sent a care package to him as he's been imprisoned. We always need to keep in mind that this book of Philippians was penned by the Apostle Paul when he was in prison. And that's very obvious in the text that we'll be looking at this morning. The question is, how did Paul get himself in this fix? Well, the Bible tells us in the book of Acts, Keep your fingers here in Philippians chapter 1. We'll be coming back here. We have several look-ups here in the book of Acts to learn more about Paul's circumstances. Paul's circumstances. So, now before Paul arrived in Rome, he'd already been imprisoned in Caesarea for two years. For two years. The governor's name at that time was Felix. Let's look at Acts 24. I'll read verses 24 through 27. Acts 24, 24 through 27. But some days later, Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. And as he was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, go away for the present. And when I find time, I will summon you. At the same time, too, he was hoping that money would be given to him by Paul. Therefore, he used to send for him quite often and converse with him. But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porteus Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. Felix was the governor at the time. Paul's been in prison two years, and now Festus is the new governor. You've got to pick up in Acts 25, verses 1 through 12. It becomes a narrative. We're going to learn a narrative when King Agrippa comes And he comes and he determines what charges to bring against Paul. So let me read this. Acts 25, 1 to 12. Festus, therefore, having arrived in the province, three days later went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were urging him requesting a concession against Paul that he might have him brought to Jerusalem, at the same time setting an ambush to kill him on the way. Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea, that he himself was about to leave shortly. Therefore, he said, let the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them prosecute him. And after he spent not more than eight or 10 days among them, he went down to Caesarea. And on the next day, he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. And after he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him, which they could not prove. And while Paul in his own defense said, I've committed no offense, either against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar. But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges? Paul said, I'm standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried. I've done no wrong to the Jews, as you all also very well know. If then I'm a wrongdoer, and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die, but if none of these things are true in which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar." In verse 12, then when Festus has conferred with his council, he answered, you have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go. So Agrippa and his council heard those bringing charges against Paul. They heard Paul's defense, and Agrippa's conclusion we find in chapter 26, verses 30 and 32. And the king arose, and the governor, and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them. And when they had drawn aside, they began talking to one another, saying, this man is not doing anything worthy of death or imprisonment. And Agrippa said to Festus, this man might have been set free if he'd not appealed to Caesar. Acts chapter 27 and Acts in the latter half of Acts 28 records the narrative of Paul's trip to Rome, which we would say was not uneventful. You can read that this afternoon. We pick up the narrative again in Acts 28, verse 16, where we learn about Paul's arrival in Rome and his residence. 28, 16. And when we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who was guarding him. Verses 23 and 24. And when they set a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers. He was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and from the prophets from morning until evening. And some were being persuaded by the things spoken and others would not believe. And then look at verses 30 and 31. And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered." So we notice that Paul was not in a dungeon, but under house arrest and still in chains. He was tethered 24-7. And while he is in his captivity, it's there that he writes and dictates this epistle. Again, epistles from that Greek word, epistole, which means letter. It's in prison where he dictates this particular letter. Paul's letter, Paul's epistle to the Philippians. Four years. Four years in jail waiting to have a trial before Caesar. four long years, and yet I want you to observe the optimism of Paul in these verses. And what we learn in these verses is not new to you, brethren. You've seen much of this, though circumstances differ, for the prophet Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations. Paul, as Jeremiah, both recognized that God was in their trouble. Jeremiah knew that God was in his troubles. Paul recognizes that God is in his troubles. And Paul wanted the Philippian congregation to know this. And note how Paul starts this section of the letter. He says, I want you to know, brethren. That expression, I want you to know, is similar to the words, behold, attention. What I'm about to say to you is really, really important. I want you to know, brother, I don't want you to be ignorant. I want you to be aware of my circumstances. This is really, really important. He says, I want you to know, brother, that my circumstances, my chains have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. I mean, you hear this and you have to wonder, is this right? Is this a spurious text? Is this a false text? How could it be that Paul, who's been in prison for four years, says it has advanced the gospel of Jesus Christ? How could that be? Two years before getting to Rome, and now he's two years in Rome, four years incarcerated. And yet he says, my circumstances are advancing the good news of Jesus Christ. Now, how can that be? Paul proceeds in this section to elaborate and to back up his statement. The gospel or the good news of Jesus Christ is advancing because of his circumstances, because of his chains in two major ways. Two major ways. The first, the gospel of Jesus Christ is having an effect upon those outside the church. And secondly, the gospel of Jesus Christ is having an effect upon those who are inside the church. So look at those affecting those outside the church. How the gospel affects those outside the church. Look at verse 13. Paul says, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else. Here we see the cause of Christ. My chains are giving me opportunities to talk to others about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And notice this throughout the whole Praetorian Guard. Once upon a time, I wondered, what's the size of this Praetorian Guard? And let me just make mention before I get to that point that the Praetorian Guard is not a place. Some English translations translate this as a palace. But the Praetorian Guard is not a place, it's a people. It's the guard of the emperor. It's much the same sense that we might say the National Guard. It doesn't speak about a place unless we think of the National Guard as being the United States. However, we know the National Guard is often deployed in other parts of the world. Praetorian Guard were troops that protected the guarded Caesar. And as I said, once upon a time, I thought that the Praetorian Guard was only like maybe 100 guards, 100 soldiers. One source I checked said that there were 10,000 soldiers in this Praetorian Guard, and another one said there was 16,000. I mean, it's not a secret service detail, is it? It's an army protecting Caesar, protecting the emperor. They were elite troops. And the Bible says that the gospel of Jesus Christ has become known through the whole Praetorian Guard. I want you to think about this. How is it that the gospel of Jesus Christ became known through the whole Praetorian Guard? One at a time. One at a time. Now think about this. Paul was in chains, but he was not shackled to a wall. He was handcuffed to a guard 24-7. Not the same guard, obviously. They worked in shifts. And the chains were not the handcuffs of which we think about today, but it was likely a chain. It was 18 inches long, about a cubit long. Cubit is measured from the tip of your elbow to the tip of the finger. It's about 18 inches. Close enough that Paul would have a captive audience. They heard Paul speak to others about the Christ. of his person and his work, the active and passive obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. They heard him speak about Christ's crucifixion and Christ's resurrection. They heard him dictate letters not only to the Philippians but to the other prison epistles of Ephesians and Colossians and Philemon. I mean, knowing Paul as we know Paul from the scriptures, we have to believe that Paul talked to those who were shackled to him. Over two years, various guards heard Paul in personal conversation about Jesus. And some, perhaps many, believed. And they told other soldiers and told their families. And when some of these troops went further into Europe on campaigns, the gospel went with them. The Roman Empire extended into Romania. That's why it's called Romania. I remember being in Cluj, Sunaire and Cluj in 2020. And in one of the city squares, an old town, there was like a large plexiglass, probably about 20 feet square. And you could look down 12, 14, 16 feet into Roman ruins. I had no doubt that certainly the Roman army was there, but I have no doubt that Christians actually were in Roman. in Romania, that part of the world back in the earliest centuries of the church. Now likely, many guards were skeptical and probably wanted to get unshackled from Paul as soon as they could. And yet in time, they became interested in various topics of discussion. And again, how Paul, how God used Paul's chains to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ among the praetorian guard. I mean, is it not a marvel on how Paul used his circumstances to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ? Verse 13 says, and to everyone else, now who might that be? Well, some believe this refers to others in the capital who serve the soldiers, cooks, bakers, butlers, cupbearers. clothiers, physicians, personal attendants, what we might call the bureaucracy, and other officials. The word, the cause of Christ, went to them as well. God used Paul's circumstances to affect people outside the church. Many believed in Christ, and many of those likewise were brought into the church. You know when you think about it, it puts a very different perspective on prison ministry, doesn't it? Paul's chains also affected those outside the church. Paul's chains affected those outside the church. Look at verse 14. And that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Paul's chains advanced the gospel of Jesus Christ within the church. The brothers of the church. Now, who are these brothers? Well, likely they were Christians. They were brethren in Rome. Remember, there was a church already in Rome when Paul arrived. Acts 28, 14, and 15 says this, and thus, we came to Rome. And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the market of Appius and the three inns to meet us. And when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. There was already a church there in Rome. There was that church, that congregation likely composed of Gentiles, but also in Acts 28, we learn that Paul also spoke to the Jews, whom many have believed that this Jesus was indeed the Messiah. They formed Christian congregations. There's likely several congregations in Rome by the time Paul arrived. These are likely the brethren to whom Paul refers to in this epistle. These were the brothers who took courage to speak to others in the capital city to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Prior to that, they're probably thinking, you know, I'm not as sharp a thinker as the apostle Paul is. I'm no match against these pagans. Let Paul do the ministry. Let Paul be the one who preaches and sends forth the gospel. But now that Paul could not travel freely and do the work of the ministry, they understood that now they had to spread the gospel. Moreover, they likely thought, well, if Paul is witnessing to his guards in prison, surely I who am not in jail, I can go to my neighbors and tell them about the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, it led them to a new level of courage. The church in Rome is picking up on the great commission that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to the disciples and to the church at his ascension. However, there's a problem. There's a problem. Look at verses 15 through 17. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife. but some also from goodwill. The later do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. You see, not all the brothers who are preaching Christ and his gospel are doing it from pure motives. Like, what's going on here? How do we understand what Paul means here? Well, the text doesn't go into detail. But let us remember, two obvious favorable outcomes of his change in advancing the gospel, namely, The gospel is being preached to those who exist without Christ. And secondly, the gospel is being preached to those who are already believers. It's always good to hear the good news. We who've been Christians for perhaps many years are just recently coming to the gospel and coming to Christ. It's good to hear the old, old story again, isn't it? And so it's not only an emphasis of those who are hearing the gospel outside the church and coming to those, but it's also the gospels for those of us who are in the church. It's not only just evangelism. We're talking about the gospel. We're talking about everything we find in the Bible. It's preaching the whole counsel of God. That's really the gospel. It's not just the evangelistic message. Now, the third reason is not so obvious. And it would appear to be detrimental to the preaching of the good news. But Paul gives us a third reason, and it's a third reason of optimism of his being in chains. But before we look at this concept of optimism and encouragement, let us try to understand this text. Though some are preaching Christ with impure motives, that is with envy, strife, selfish ambition, with intentions of doing Paul harm, I want you to note that there is no mention of them preaching heterodoxy. Heterodoxy, hetero means other, another doctrine. They're not preaching another gospel. Text says nothing about this. There are brothers, there are other brothers, these brothers are not teaching a different gospel. There's no insinuation in Paul's words that these men are teaching heresy. None of them are preaching about another Messiah. They're not preaching about another Jesus. It appears from the text from Paul's words that these men are preaching the truth about Jesus Christ and his gospel. But while they are preaching orthodoxy, ortho means straight, straight teaching, dox could be praise or doctrine, ortho, straight teaching. While they're teaching orthodoxy, the truth, they're doing so with impure motives. That's the point that Paul's making. It's respect to this point that Paul is dividing the preachers at Rome into two separate groups. The first group are those who are preaching Christ from envy and strife. It's rivalry. The second group preaches Christ out of love. And as mentioned previously, there was a church already in Rome. These were probably certain preachers who gained a notoriety or prominence among the church. Paul enters the scene with his history, his background, his name, his ministry, his evangelism among the Praetorian Guard, and others, and it's becoming well known among the churches in Rome. And these other preachers you see in Rome, kind of taking a back seat to Paul among the congregations. And you know well, the wiles and the schemes of Satan, preachers often become jealous and envious of other preachers. And now we have those other preachers, and instead of resolving the idols of their hearts, and doing things that please the Lord and dealing with the sin in their heart, they resort to try to go after Paul to cause him distress in order to diminish his influence. These other preachers, these other brothers, proclaim the gospel in hoping that their ministry will grow and become more and more prominent and put Paul, as it were, on the back burner. So they preach Christ. They're involved in ministry, but with impure motives of envy, of strife, of selfish ambition. They preach the pure gospel, but with impure motives. And I think that's what Paul's getting at in this text. They preach the truth about Jesus. Again, what we call orthodoxy. They're preaching the true gospel. They're preaching what we would call historic Christianity. There's no question about that. The issue is that they now do so in order to cause distress to Paul. This is called rivalry in the church. Now that apple doesn't fall far from the tree in our 21st century. We can identify what's going on in this text of household rivalry, God's household. I have two books on my shelves. Well, actually, I think these two books are now in boxes. Two books that address this subject. One is called Sibling Rivalry in the Household of God. Sibling Rivalry in the Household of God. It's written by Jay Adams. I have another title called How to Behave in Church, parenthetically, A Guide to Church Life, by a fellow by the name of Peter Jeffries. You know, one doesn't have to look far to find a contemporary example of the problems that plagued the early congregations in Rome. The church today is not, is not, or the church today is torn by jealousy. There's jealousy within the churches. There's jealousy among nationally known evangelicals. There's also examples of strife. There are those who approach, whole approach to Christian ministry is tough and it's hard-boiled and who cannot fathom of doing God's work apart from tearing down other Christians. It's kind of odd that we American Christians are so concerned about partisanship in politics. And yet, we seem to look the other way when it comes to the church. I'm of Paul, or I'm of Cephas, or I'm of the Apostles, or I'm of Calvin, or I'm of Rushduny, or I'm of Van Til, or I'm of R.C. Sproul, or, I mean, insert your favorite theologian, or I'm of that preacher, or I'm of that preacher over there. It's a party spirit, and it's destructive. It's destructive to the church. You know it was destructive to the church in Corinth. Paul had a whole epistle. First Corinthians speaks about the party spirit that was found in the Corinthian church. Envy, strife, caused trouble in the days of the Apostle Paul. Even so today, they cause trouble in the church. locally, geographically, denominationally, in ecclesiastical fellowship with other churches and denominations. And the end result, end result, it causes a declining, it's a declining impact of the gospel of Jesus Christ on our society and on the world. I mean, brethren, think about the opportunities that are available for us today who name the name of Jesus Christ. To advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. They're unprecedented in our day and age. And yet the bickering and the lack of love among Christians hamstrings Christ's effectiveness. And it's easy to look outside of these church walls and point fingers. Brethren, you need to see that your house is in order and that neither envy nor strife or selfish ambition is the MO. the modus operandi of grace OPC by its officers and its congregants. You need to be praying constantly for unity, knowing the wiles and the schemes of Satan. I'd also want you to look at Paul's attitude. Look at verse 18, Paul's attitude. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, I will rejoice. It's a rejoicing attitude. It's a rejoicing attitude. Let them add affliction to my bonds. So what? The key thing is that Jesus Christ is being preached. That's what makes me happy. I'm rejoicing in this fact and I will continue to rejoice in this fact that Jesus Christ and His gospel is being preached. Are you being treated unfairly? Are you being treated unfairly? If others are in any way furthering the message about Jesus Christ, I want you to rejoice in that, regardless of what they say or do about you. In other words, Christ and His church comes before yourself. One commentator said that it's not about Paul's case, it's not about Paul's case as much as it was about Jesus' cause. It's about Jesus' cause. Paul is saying it's not about me, but it's all about Jesus Christ. It's about the cause, the claims of Christ, the gospel of Christ, the good news of Jesus Christ, that though you're a sinner and dead in your trespasses and sins, you cannot save yourself. God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to save you from your sins. It's about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It's about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The resurrection of God's imprimatur about Christ's life and how he lived the perfect life and laid down his life as that perfect atonement, that perfect covering for your sins. A perfect atonement to which nothing else can be added. It's not faith in Jesus plus my good works, but it's Jesus Christ alone. Sola fide, right? Faith in Christ alone. Sola Christus, Christ alone. Sola gratia, grace alone. So it was God's imprimatur, his resurrection was God's imprimatur, his stamp of approval upon Christ's person and his work. To rise again that you might have eternal life. So brethren, I want you to look at this epistle and I want you to look at this text. You need to understand that God often advances his gospel through trouble. So instead of complaining and whining and grumping and getting angry or going to pieces when trouble comes, fellow Christians, find ways in which the gospel can be advanced in your troubles. It might be in a hospital. It might be during a financial difficulty. It might be in a marriage crisis. Recognize that God is in your troubles. God is in your troubles. You understand, it wasn't the Jews who imprisoned Paul, it wasn't the Romans, it was God. I think knowing this is helpful. In the midst of your trouble, whatever it might be, it should add a note of anticipation and even excitement and even adventure. You're not in your troubles alone. God is there. He's behind your troubles. Remember the promise, He'll never leave you nor forsake you. He's with you always. Realize secondly that God is up to something. God is up to something. Troubles you see are not meaningless. Troubles have a purpose. You may not see it right away, you may not see what God is up to, but at length you may see... I believe for instance, let me give you an instance. my mother's death catapulted me into the gospel ministry. Ministry wasn't even on my radar screen at that time in my life. Sue and I had just been married. It was two months after our marriage that when we got married is that my mom passed into glory. And yet God used that very difficult moment in my life to redirect my thinking and my plans to his plans." But you see this in Scripture, too. You see it in Old Testament Joseph, thrown into the pit, later in prison. There's no way that he could have seen down the road that he'd be Pharaoh's right-hand man. There's no way. But Joseph believed God was in his troubles, and instead of complaining, he remained faithful. Thus Paul looked for an opportunity to become involved in what God was doing. So instead of complaining about the shackles on his wrist, his poor wrist, he looked down at the other end of the chain and he saw an opportunity. An opportunity to tell this individual about the Lord Jesus Christ. An opportunity to minister the word to this individual, 18 inches from him, about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul's imprisonment, Paul's trouble, it turned out for the good of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In your troubles, you need to understand that God has not goofed. God has not made a mistake. God is in your troubles, and God is doing something in your troubles. You need to open your eyes. Keep your eyes open. But God is up to something, something good for you and good for all involved. Don't miss the opportunity at the end of your chain, whatever that might be. So brothers and sisters in Christ, make the most out of your difficult circumstances of life to testify of God's grace in Jesus Christ. Amen. Now let us pray. Our great God in heaven, we are thankful that you are the sovereign God, that you have foreordained whatsoever comes into our lives. Lord God, we're mindful that we cannot control our circumstances, but we can control how we react to those circumstances. We pray, Lord God, you'd help us to see the big picture. Help us to see, Lord God, that the circumstances are what you place on our plate. We're thankful, Lord God, for opportunities daily that we might tell others of the gospel of Jesus Christ or come alongside of a Christian who's hurting. and that we might come alongside of them and comfort them from the help that we've received from you through the scriptures. Lord, we pray that we would not be bashful of the gospel. We pray that we would not be ashamed of the gospel. But Lord God, that we might be mindful that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, to the Jew first and to the Greek. These two categories includes all men, all men. Lord God, we are thankful for the preservation of your word. We're thankful for this particular passage of scripture. We pray, Lord, that you would seal it into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Our concluding praise is hymn number 667. so so so so You. and and Congregation of the Lord, receive your God's blessing. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore. Amen. You may be seated.