As we come to the close of the book of Hebrews, we come to this 13th chapter, and remember throughout this whole book, a book which the writer describes as this brief word of exhortation, that his major concern has been that many in this church of Jewish believers that many, because of the pressure of potential persecution, would turn their backs on Jesus Christ. His concern was that because of pressure, because of the trials that they were about to encounter, that they would no longer walk faithfully with Jesus Christ, but that they would go back to that which was comfortable, namely Judaism. that which would bring them once again social favor with friends and family. And so this whole letter, this whole exhortation has revolved around the writer's desire to encourage his readers to hold fast firmly to the faith all the way to the end. That they wouldn't give up, that they wouldn't fall away, that they wouldn't turn their backs on their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw in the circumstances that they were facing a very real threat to their faith. If you think about it, oftentimes people who abandon the faith, people who turn their backs on Jesus, don't actually abandon religion altogether. In fact, sometimes, in fact many times, people who turn their back on Christ and on living for Christ will actually keep up some sort of religious charade. Oftentimes that religious charade is nothing more than a coping mechanism helping them deal with what they know in their hearts has been nothing less than abandonment of Jesus Christ. Letting go of their commitment to Christ doesn't feel so much like letting go if they hang on to some religious truth that seems strange and peculiar but religious nonetheless. The writer to the Hebrews is an astute pastor and a profound theologian. And what he knows is that those who are tempted to turn their backs on Jesus Christ will not be tempted to turn their back on religion altogether, but actually will be vulnerable to strange and various teachings. And so now he actually warns them against being led or carried away by strange and various doctrines. He warns them about holding on to things which are incompatible with everything that he's taught them, but things which nevertheless could be used to mask their own apostasy. In chapter 13, verse 7, the writer has actually called the readers to do what? To remember, to reflect, and to imitate the faith of their past faithful leaders. He tells them to remember, reflect, and imitate those who led them, who taught them the Word of God, and who subsequently finished the race and kept the faith. Those are the real heroes, the ones who have actually stood fast, not for a little while, but all the way to the end. He tells them, remember them, reflect on them, imitate their faith. And then in 13.8, he reminds us all of the substance of their faith, which is Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, the same and forever. In other words, He's reminding them that your leaders preached Christ to you, and that Christ that they preached sustained them. And the same Christ that sustained your leaders and that they preached to you is the same Christ that you need to cling to and to hold fast to today. The very same Christ that upheld them is the very same Christ who will uphold you. And so you've got this glorious confession of faith. And then the writer moves to an explicit warning, a call really not to be either led astray or carried away by what he calls various strange teachings. The Word of God, the writer wants us to remember, as taught by their former leaders and their present leaders, is the unchanging Word of Christ. And that unchanging Word is always threatened by false teaching. Now, we live in a peculiar time. In biblical times, there was indeed such a thing as heresy. In biblical times, there was in fact a thing as false teaching. Ironically, we live in a day in which the only heresy seems to be the idea that there's such a thing as heresy. And certainly, we wouldn't want to put the word false in front of teaching because that would indicate that somebody somewhere doesn't have it right. And in fact, we may not all have it right, but let's face it, we're not all wrong. The Bible doesn't give in to such postmodern nonsense. The Bible looks at the Word of God, and the Word of God is unchanging, and the Word of God is true, and that's what you stick with, and there's stuff that's contrary to the Word of God, which is false, by simple virtue of the fact that it's contrary to the Word of God. Whatever is contrary to the Word of God is contrary to truth. Whatever is contrary to truth is wrong. It's actually quite simple. In this passage we're going to look at today, verse 9, there is a wonderful contrasting parallel between verse 9 and verse 7. William Lane makes the contrast and he says that the call in verse 7, remember and imitate, is compared and contrasted with, don't allow yourself to be led away. Your former leaders of verse 7 is contrasted and compared with those who were obviously introducing the strange doctrines into their assembly. The Word of God mentioned in verse 7 is compared and contrasted to the diverse human teachings that were in danger of carrying them away. The call in verse 7 to consider the outcome of their lives is compared to that those who walk or adhere to these strange doctrines are not benefited by them. And their faith in verse 7 is compared and contrasted with the foods teaching of verse 9. And so, as the writer begins, we could put it like this in verse 9. Put a stop right now to being led away by various strange teachings. In verse 9, the implication actually is that these teachings were not something new to this assembly. In fact, there probably was some level of familiarity already with them and the call was for them to stop being led or carried away. In the Bible, we know, especially two places in Paul, that this warning of not being led or carried away is a serious warning. In fact, in one place, you can just keep your finger there in Hebrews and turn over to Ephesians chapter 4, the Apostle Paul underscores the importance of this in Ephesians chapter 4. He talks about that Christ has given gifts to his church to build them up for the works of service so that they can attain to the unity of faith that belongs to the fullness of Christ. And then verse 14, he says, as a result, that is as a result of being built up in maturity in Christ, we are no longer to be children. tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love were to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ." Paul's imagery is you're not to be children, that is you're not to be immature in your biblical theological thinking, because that simply is living a life in which you're just tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine. And so Paul gives a very, very strong warning about being led or carried away by strange teaching. He gives also the same kind of warning in Colossians chapter 2, Just turn over a couple of books and you get to Colossians. Colossians chapter 2, we see this warning. Verse 6, the Apostle says, Colossians 2, 6, Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. And so the Apostle Paul and the writer to the Hebrews actually gives a warning about not being carried away or led away by various kinds of teaching. And the picture is a person who is led away or carried away is not sufficiently grounded in what they believe. They're not sufficiently grounded in the Word of God and in the truth and thus they're carried away by whatever current comes along and happens to catch them. You know the largest group of people to convert to the Jehovah's Witnesses are evangelical Christians. Do you know that evangelical Christians make up a very, very large percentage of cult members? Why is that? Could it be that because of the way that we've structured church life, we put our kids in years and years of Sunday school where they do nothing but color an arc and hear moralistic stories about be good and don't do bad things and always tell the truth, And then when they get older, we make sure that they're not in church either, so we design something for them where they can go and hear other nice little moralistic stories, and they're not grounded in the Word. And then finally, when it's time for them to come in and sit with the big people, like when they're 18, then there they are, and you know what? It just seems utterly, absolutely boring to them. So those that do stick around, often many leave, but those that do stick around, they end up hearing nice little how-tos and little sermons about how to get along in life and moralistic lessons and all of this, and then they go off to college and then they hear some guy that undermines absolutely everything that they were told about Noah's Ark, and then somebody knocks at their door one day and says, hey, are you interested in the end of the world? One of the reasons why So many people abandon the truth of the gospel is because they're not grounded in the truth of the gospel. It's something that they've just come into contact with. It's something that they've just been caught up in the orbit of, and then they hear something that just sounds just way more interesting. And whose fault is that? Well, in some ways you can say it's the believer's fault for not being rooted and grounded in Christ. But I will tell you, I think that the church has to take a huge responsibility for not teaching the people the Word of God. So the writer says, put a stop to being led away. In other words, there were already people that were kind of giving into these things. And what were they giving into? Notice the writer puts it like this, they were various and strange doctrines. And we should probably take those two words and put them together so that we call them just various strange doctrines. various, that is, there were a number of them, and strange, that is, they were foreign or incompatible with the message of grace. When you think of strange, don't just think of like weird things, weird doctrines. You've heard of weird doctrines before, right? I can't even begin, I should have just kept a catalog of all the weird things that people have wanted to share with me over the years. Things that are so bizarre that you wonder to yourself, are you putting me on or do you really believe this? There's all kinds of weird stuff. And the internet, by the way, has propagated the weirdness. Okay? So that there are now more weird heretics than there were before thanks to the advent of the internet because evidently these bad doctrines go viral, as I heard the word earlier. That's a good word for it, right? Because like a virus is just a bad thing. And so if it goes viral, it spreads really fast and it's contaminating lots and lots of people. When the writer says various and strange doctrines, don't think that he's talking about, hey, did you know that Ezekiel was really talking about UFOs? Okay, that's not what he's talking about. What he's talking about is foreign doctrines, that is, things that are incompatible with the message that he's taught them, that the apostles have delivered, things that are incompatible with the gospel of grace. Things that are incompatible, strange, foreign, outside of the scope of the message of Christ, His priesthood, the fulfillment of the new covenant, things that are outside of the scope of Jesus Christ, yesterday, today, the same, forever. And so the doctrines that he is dealing with are doctrines that would not have been, you know, some weird astrological thing or something like that, but just doctrines that were foreign to the very things that he'd been teaching them, the apostolic deposit of the faith itself. Now, we're going to find out that these particular various strange doctrines revolved around food, but let me just point out that right here, this should be a powerful reminder to us that many times, we as Christians begin to believe things that are actually foreign to the gospel of grace. And it is easy for us to begin to believe things and perhaps not even see the incompatibility of what this new fascinating thing is with the once for all delivered faith. Examples abound. But how many have been carried away by teachings that simply undermine the very grace of the gospel. How many times have believers been carried away by the subtleties of doctrines regarding works righteousness or legalism or anything that is foreign and undermining to the very gospel of Jesus Christ itself? You can engage in conversation with people and start to hear about things that they are encountering and learning and you begin to realize that that avenue that they're going is actually utterly contrary to the grace they profess to believe. Now, in the context here, the various strange doctrines revolved around food. The idea was that the food teachings, don't know exactly what they were, but we can paint a big picture, actually strengthened the heart. So there were these guys that came into the assembly and they had the newest CD set and the newest tape set and they had the little videos and they were all ready to share this wonderful teaching about how food can strengthen the heart. But the fundamental flaw with the food doctrine was simply this. Something more than grace is needed to strengthen the heart. That's the problem. That's always the problem. Understand that even in the apostolic era, that was the problem. As Paul dealt with the Judaizers in Galatia, the Judaizers did not come to the Galatian churches and say, stop believing in Jesus. They said faith in Jesus is good, but don't forget in order to be real sons of Abraham, you also need to be circumcised. So it was faith plus something. That's always the problem, isn't it? Very rarely do people just want to annihilate faith. They just want to make it faith plus something else. Something other than the grace of God that can strengthen the heart. In the New Testament times, doctrine regarding food was fairly common, although not like this, per se. Most of the time, doctrines revolving around food revolved around abstaining from certain foods. So, for instance, Paul's dealing with some sort of heresy in the book of Colossians that revolved around abstaining from certain kinds of foods, don't handle, don't taste, don't touch. In 1st Timothy, he identifies certain doctrines of demons being men who forbid or prohibit what? Marriage and the eating of certain kinds of foods. So, there were certain foods that made this list that basically said, if you eat these, you know, you're probably not a real Christian. Now, over the years, I've been tempted to make such a list myself. If you eat a Taco Bell, you're probably not a real Christian. But my biblical sensibilities just have got the better of me and I've refused so that I know that there can be Christians who eat Taco Bell or McDonald's or various other foods. But understand this, this idea of food doctrine has not gone away. It's still with us to this very day. When I grew up in the Catholic Church, during Lent, guess what you couldn't eat on Fridays? Couldn't eat meat, so you had to go to McDonald's. and get a Filet-O-Fish sandwich. I'm serious. I bet McDonald's sells more Filet-O-Fish sandwiches during Lent than any other time of the year. But I will tell you that evangelicals are also given to silly teachings about foods. How many ridiculous, idiotic, Evangelical diets have come out over and over. Eat the Bible way and be filled with the Spirit. Well, actually, Mark chapter 7, Jesus declares all foods clean, which I guess means it's okay to go to McDonald's. But in other words, the food laws of the Old Testament no longer apply. They've been abrogated, they've been done away with. And yet evangelicals are even given to... You know, I'm not talking about, you know, trying to be a good steward of your body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit, going to watch what you put in it and all that kind of stuff. But I'm talking about the idea of connecting food with spirituality. The particular heresy that these people were dealing with probably revolved around Jewish ceremonial meals. They were originally Jewish, if you remember. These people had grown up in Judaism. These people had grown up being taught that God dwelt in the tabernacle and that you needed a priest and you needed to offer sacrifices. And in fact, one of the reasons why I think that that is probably the case, this is a reference to Jewish ceremonial meals, is notice in verse 10. The writer says we have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. So it's very, very possible that the new English translation, when it translates the word foods in verse 9 as ritual meals, is actually on to something. It was this distinctly Jewish notion that meals, especially the ceremonial meals, actually strengthened the heart, strengthened the faith, reinvigorated the inner man. Psalm 104 actually talks about eating. Is a blessing from God strengthening the heart? But that's a physical strengthening. And most certainly, from a biblical perspective, the opportunity to eat is an opportunity to be physically strengthened and also an opportunity to give thanks and praise to God. Right? Eating actually is an incredible blessing. It is a wonderful gift from God. One of the things that I love about our Lord's Day services is when we eat in between services. Now, I try not to overeat between services because the last thing you need is a sleepy preacher for the second hour. And too many meatballs will make for sleepiness. But it's a wonderful thing to gather around food and to fellowship with each other, to give thanks to God for your food. It is a reminder to us of God's faithfulness. It's an opportunity to praise and to thank God for His abundant provision. But that kind of idea in Jewish circles had the tendency to evolve into something that went like this. It's actually in the eating of the food itself that you're getting grace. Which is still with us today. So that Throughout the Diaspora, that is outside of Jerusalem, as Jews were spread throughout the Roman Empire in the ancient world, it's very, very possible that there were itinerant Jewish preachers who would bring a message that basically went like this. We know that there are certain things in our biblical customs that we only do in Jerusalem, but you know what? We're going to copy them and do them here, and in so doing, your faith can be strengthened and you can become a recipient of grace. Now, when applying the passage, we don't need to restrict ourselves to doctrines that revolve around food, but actually anything that asserts itself, any doctrine, any teaching, any teacher that asserts itself as strengthening the heart in the place of or in addition to the grace of God. What do you need today to sustain your faith? The grace of God. How is that grace mediated to you? Through his word, through his people, but not through something you put into your mouth. What do you need tomorrow to sustain your faith and to strengthen your heart? You need the grace of God. How is the grace of God mediated to us? Through the gospel. through the word of grace, through the true grace of God that comes to us through His inspired word. And so the danger here is to posit the idea that what you really need if you're going to be a really good Christian, or what you really need if you're going to really grow, get to that second level, is you need something in addition to that which is offered to you in the grace of God's word. And how many times are evangelicals sidetracked from the gospel because something new and something trendy comes along? Have you ever noticed how gullible evangelicals are for something new and something trendy? All you got to do in order for it to be a bestseller and for it to make you lots and lots of money, just put 40 in front of it. Just put best in front of it. We are the most gullible people, easily carried away by trends and strange teachings and we think that, alas, we found it. What did our forefathers do? in the days before 40 days of purpose. What did our forefathers do? What in the world did Justin Martyr and Augustine and Athanasius do before promise keepers? A lot of times, our hankering for trends and something new is nothing less than an indictment on our own lack of satisfaction with the Word of God. If you are satisfied in the Word of God, if you're anchored in the Word of God, then frankly, you're not carried away by trends and strange teachings. Now the writer says, it's good for the heart to be strengthened by grace. And then he turns around and talks about the food. But let's look at that. First of all, there's a contrast between being strengthened and being carried away. So where do you want to be? Do you want to be carried away by every current and wind of doctrine? Or do you want to be strengthened? Do you want to be strong? Do you want to have a foundation? Do you want to be rooted and grounded in that which is eternal? Or do you want to be carried away by that which is trendy and temporary? That's the contrast. The writer says it's good for the heart, that is, it's good for the totality of your being, the very essence of your character, your conduct, your inner man. It is good for your heart to be strengthened by grace. Grace which comes to you through the word of promise. Grace which is centralized in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Grace which is focused in the priestly work of Jesus as the mediator of the New Covenant. Grace which is embodied in the New Covenant itself that comes to us through the ministry of the Word again and again and again. The writer says it's good for your heart to be strengthened with grace. It's actually an understatement. It's more than good. It's necessary. It's non-negotiable. The grace of God established or exhibited in Jesus Christ is the only true nourishment of the heart. It's the Christ-centered word. And it's the Christ-saturated whole counsel of God. It is the gospel. It is the gospel from Genesis to Revelation, which is the true grace of God that alone nourishes the inner man. It's no accident, by the way, that in the New Testament, there's a phrase that we see a number of times in Paul, sound doctrine. Sound doctrine. You know, the word for sound is the word that we get our English word hygiene from. In other words, what Paul is advocating when he says sound doctrine is the idea of healthy doctrine. Doctrine or teaching that is healthy, that is good for you spiritually, that builds you up. And yet, what a shame that we live in a day where doctrine is discounted, where theology is...its importance is minimized. I mean, after all, there are so many doctrinal theological disagreements. How in the world can anything like that that causes so much division end up being important? Well, Paul thought it was actually important enough to say that there's such a thing as healthy doctrine. And so the writer reminds us, it's good, it is good for you, for your heart to be strengthened and to be built up with nothing but the grace of God. And then he says in the negative, not by food. So clearly, when he says that those who are actually walking in this strange doctrine about food, they're not profited by the food, that too is an understatement. It's not just a matter that they're not profited. By the way, the word profited is the verb form of the noun that we have in 2 Timothy 3.16, where it says, all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable, beneficial. And so the writer says, actually quite charitably and nicely, that those who actually walk in these doctrines about food, they're not benefited by them. They're not profited by them. It's an illusion. It's very interesting that the writer uses those who walk in them, rabbinic teaching, was called halakha, that which you walk in. And so it's very, very possible that what was in view here was a distinctly Jewish kind of flavor to this teaching on food that would have done what? That would have given them some level of comfort. They're going back to that which has some degree of familiarity, and so they may not be on fire for Jesus anymore, and they may not be ultimately committed to Jesus Christ yesterday, today, the same, but at least they're holding on to the facade of a religious act and event. And by the way, Isn't it interesting that oftentimes when we give up the substance for something that's shadowy, the shadowy is always easier than the substance? That's why people like legalism. It's because it's simple to do. You've got a list and the list is in front of you and it's just right there. That's why the doctrine of food is easy. What do you need to do to supposedly profit from this doctrine? Eat. Compare that to waking up Monday morning resolutely ready to follow Jesus. What's easier? eat something, call it good, call me spiritual, and get out of my face. Following Jesus, walking in the real grace of God, is by no stretch an easy thing. And how many are there who have been carried away by that which was just easier to do? Food can't make you spiritual, In fact, Jesus explicitly tells us it's not what you put into you that actually does anything for you. It can't actually make you clean or unclean, right? It's what's in the heart. Food can't do spiritual good to the heart. False doctrine is dangerous to the heart. It takes our eyes off of Christ. It leads us astray. And so the writer pleads with these people, for the sake of your soul, stop and stop now being carried away by these foreign teachings. Don't think for a minute. that being in a church where you bring your Bible and the Word of God is preached is enough. Don't think that for a minute. I would remind you that some of the early heretics after Reformation were students of Luther and Calvin and Beza. being under a sound or healthy ministry of the word does not actually somehow immunize us from being carried away. So why do people gravitate towards strange teaching and towards trends that are contrary to what is embodied in the word of grace? Well, first of all, they're not grounded in the true grace of God, which is found only in Jesus Christ. And so that is a reminder to us, listen carefully. It is not enough to be a hearer of the word only. You can hear the right word over and over and over again, and to be a hearer of that word only does not secure you from anything. It's loving it, it's receiving it, it's doing it that changes our lives. It's loving it, receiving it, believing it, and doing it that grounds us in the truth. And so people who gravitate towards these things, just simply, they're not grounded in the true grace of God. Since I don't think I've sufficiently offended you enough this morning, let me give you an example. There's a place for studying all different facets and ramifications from the Word of God. There's a place, for instance, for studying apologetics, the defense of the faith. In fact, there are some people that are very good at it. There's a place for studying cults. There's a place for studying all kinds of things that are, in a sense, on the periphery of the gospel itself. But how many times Do you see people getting more excited about creation versus evolution than they are about the gospel? That's a problem. That is a huge problem. I'm all in favor of defending creation. I'm all in favor of debunking evolution. It's a lie from the pit. It smells like smoke. I hate it. It undermines man's dignity and everything else. But I will tell you what, it doesn't compare with the beauty and the glory of Jesus Christ and his gospel. How many people get caught up in determining what this cult believes and what that cult believes so that they are so excited every time they find a new cult? Why would that be exciting when you've got the real thing? It is easy to get carried away if we're not grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Another reason why people gravitate towards trends and strange teaching is because they're simply not satisfied with really the only thing that can ultimately satisfy, that is Jesus Christ. Listen carefully, every one of you, there is no going beyond Christ. There is nothing higher, there is nothing deeper, there is nothing beyond Jesus Christ. And to attempt to go beyond Christ, to somehow sound spiritual and to think that the gospel is just for brand new believers, but I'm beyond the gospel now, is simply to demonstrate that one has never tasted the living bread and drank living water. It's not a matter of getting past the gospel, it's a matter of drilling down deeper into the gospel. And the deeper you drill, the more you realize there is a depth that I will never fathom. Where do you grow? Out in the hinterlands of strange and various doctrines or with your roots going deep down into the gospel? And don't just think gospel, oh yeah, Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead and that's the gospel. That's the heart of the gospel. But from a biblical perspective, the gospel spans from Genesis to Revelation and the gospel is the Christ-centered scripture which brings to us the good news of Christ Jesus entering into this world, becoming fully man, as fully God, offering up his life after life with perfect obedience, rendering himself a sacrifice for our sins, dying, being raised from the dead, ascending into heaven, seated at the right hand of God, sending forth the Spirit. That is the story of Scripture from beginning to end, and there is no getting beyond it. You want to grow? Dig down deeper into it, because I can promise you there's not a single one of us here that's plumbed the depths of the gospel. Four spiritual laws didn't do it for you. You didn't plumb the depths once you got to the end. It's good for the heart to be strengthened by grace. Be satisfied. with the word of God alone. Years ago, when I was an intern at Lake Baptist Church up in Lake Oswego, our pastor made a comment to us interns that's always stuck with me. He says, you know why evening services die in evangelical churches? He said, because churches take the evening service and they load it up with all the stuff that they don't really want to do in the morning service. It's the catch-all. It's where you've got, you know, the choir from, you know, Podunk Baptist Bible College come and do their thing, and it's where you have, you know, you do this program and that program, and not that many people come anyway, so what difference does it make? Well, no wonder not many people come. He says, no matter what the service, offer the people the Word of God. Whether 10 come or 1,000 come, offer them the same thing so that they know exactly what they'll get every time they walk through the doors. I will tell you that that has molded and shaped what we've done for the last 17 years. And so, you know, what we do on Wednesday night, we're going to actually go verse by verse through Psalm 119. Yes, all 176 verses. But that's what we always do on Wednesday night. We open our Bibles and we study the Bible. That's why when you come on a Lord's Day morning, you know that you're going to have to bring your Bible. Because we're going to be going through a passage in the Bible. Now, it's true that we don't make a lot of progress and don't go really fast. This is our 176th sermon in the book of Hebrews. That's even amazing to me, 176 sermons. But then you think about the book of Hebrews and you go, it could be 1076 with the book of Hebrews. This is the word of God that we're talking about. So why give people something strange, incompatible with the gospel and yet tantalizing when we can offer them the ordinary meal God's Word. Week by week, service by service. If you get bored with it, I can't help you. If you think, well, I already know that, I can't help you. But what I can do is study my brains out all week, pray all week, hope that you pray for me all week, and come ready to open the Word of God for you in order to teach you the Word of God. And as far as I'm concerned, that is the reason that God put me on the planet. Yes, to be a husband to Ariel, and yes, to be a father to whatever their names are. I haven't seen the one who's in Wyoming for so long, I don't even remember what her name is. But as far as I'm concerned, God put me here to study and to teach the word of God. And if you're satisfied with that, we're good. If you want dog and pony shows, if you want something weird, If you want something that seems really new and different, you have to go somewhere else because all you're going to get here is that which is old and tried and true and tested and found in the pages of God's Word. So, be satisfied with the Word of God. If you're satisfied with the Word of God, you're not going to be hankering after the next trend. And so, Paul tells the Ephesian elders, Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with the saints." Peter concludes his letter to his readers like this, this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. And so in an age when we are bombarded from every side with various and strange teachings, let us be satisfied in the word of grace alone, which focuses on Christ alone and builds us up in our most holy faith. Let's pray. Father, we agree this afternoon that it is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace. And we pray that you would give us a distaste, a repulsion from anything that would undermine grace or seek to circumvent grace. And Father, we pray that you would give us a heartfelt satisfaction with what you have given to us once and for all. And we pray, Father, that you would help us to be strong and not carried away or led astray. And so, Father, we ask that you would build us up today. Build us up as we sit around tables and talk to one another about you and your Word. Build us up this afternoon as we continue to study your Word and the prophets. Father, thank you for your holy Word forever settled in heaven.