Sure is a blessing to be here. Tonight we will continue our journey through Colossians chapter 1. We will be in verse 23. The name of the message is Grounded and Settled. Grounded and Settled. Last week we looked at verses 21 and 22. Let's take a quick look at that. And we saw that before we were saved, we were enemies in our minds by wicked works, by our nature, which verse 21 says, and you, being the Colossian saints, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. And here's a wonderful news for sinners, yet hath he reconciled, reconciled, peace, peace with God. In the body of his flesh, this is how he did it, through death. He purchased His people, He reconciled His people, all of God's elect, by the sacrifice of Himself on Calvary's cross. And then it says, to present you holy and unblameable and unapprovable in His sight. And this is the result for the believer of what Christ has done. Now tonight, though, Well, actually, then we looked at how Christ has reconciled the believer to God. And we looked a few weeks back that he's the great peacemaker, isn't he? He's the one who's made peace with God for his people between God and them. And we are reconciled, how? By the shedding of his blood. And we who believe, though, we who believe are reconciled to God. And as I said, we looked at the wonderful result of this great reconciliation that Christ has made. Christ will present his people, the elect ones, The ones He died for on the cross, holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. But tonight we finish, or we continue in verse 23, and look what it says, though, and it's a continuation, though, of verse 21 and 22. It says, if ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard, which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister." So the object of our faith, the one who we have faith in, is Christ, Him alone. We've shed all confidence in ourselves, because we know we can't redeem ourselves. We saw that on Sunday, right? We're not able. But Christ is able to save all who come to Him. All who come to Him. And who will come to Him? His sheep will come to Him. His sheep will come to Him. So we connect this verse back to the two before us, and we see that faith in Christ, and it is Christ who is the basis of the believer being presented holy and unblameable and unapprovable in His sight. Now what this verse is not telling us is that our faith is the basis for us being presented. holy and unblemishable and unapprovable in God's sight. Now we must have faith, though. We must have faith. Those who are saved will have faith. But think of this. Who saved us? Christ. Christ. Our faith didn't make us righteous before God, right? We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. It's Christ who made us righteous. But yet we must have faith. It's a gift of God. Our faith didn't wash away our sins, right? Christ did. So the one who our faith is placed in is the one who saves us. Our faith, again, didn't reconcile us to God. The death of Christ did. But we have faith in Him. See, what I'm trying to get to is that people make faith an idol. No, faith has one object. And that's Christ. That's Christ in him alone. So who satisfied the holy justice of God? Christ did when he died, in the room instead of his people. So our faith is the one spoken of. Our faith is in the one who has done all things for the believer. He is the object of our faith, Christ Jesus our Lord. Spoken in verse 23 though we have faith in the one who has accomplished our salvation if you continue in the faith So our faith is in Christ in verse 22 we see the Preservation of God's people right holy and unblameable and unapprovable in the sight and brother John and I talked about this today There's the preservation of God's people by the Lord and He will one day present us holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. And then verse 23 says, we see the saint of God preserving, preserving in that faith. If you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Perseverance by the saint of God proves the fact that the saint perseveres. proves this faith, that it's genuine, that it's genuine. It separates a mere profession from that which is genuine. One commentator said this, divine preservation always presupposes human perseverance. Divine preservation always presupposes human perseverance. The reason being, God gives us the strength to persevere. He gives us the strength. I am the vine, and ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. So the enabling grace of God, therefore, is needed for we who believe from the beginning to the end. From the beginning to the end. Therefore, He is what? The Alpha and the Omega of our salvation. Turn, if you would, to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. Remember our text if you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel Which he have heard in which was preached to every creature, which is under heaven where have I Paul and made a minister so So we don't have the strength To keep ourselves do we God must preserve us. He must keep us but yet the scripture says tonight if you continue in the faith and if you continue in the faith. Philippians 2, verses 12 and 13 says this, Look at this wonderful verse, beloved. And think of what Brother Tim read and how they rebelled. God was continuously faithful to them, wasn't he? Look at this. both to will and to do of His good pleasure. He works in us. It is His enabling grace that keeps us. But yet we persevere. We don't go crazy. We sin still to our shame. We struggle with sin all the time. But He keeps us. He has mercy upon us. So let's go back to our text again. if ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister." So let us remember that Paul is writing to the Colossian believers, right? He's writing to the Colossian believers who are being told by false teachers that Christ is not all you need, that you need this deeper knowledge. That's what the Gnostics, they claim to have deeper knowledge, deeper knowledge. They're promoting false Gnostic doctrines of Christ plus something else. Where have we heard that before? Workspace salvation. Workspace salvation. So Paul is affirming Paul here is affirming that believers, as opposed to mere professors, right? That believers, as opposed to mere professors, will not be led astray. They will not be led astray by these false teachers. They will preserve in the faith, in the true gospel, which is taught to them by the Holy Spirit of God, and by the preaching of Epaphras. by the preaching of Epaphras. Look at verse 7. As you also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ. So Paul is affirming that which Epaphras taught them. That it's Christ plus nothing else. That Christ is supreme. That he is supreme. The same gospel that they had heard preached by Epaphras was the same gospel which Paul preached, the same gospel which Peter preached, the same gospel which John preached, the same gospel which Philip preached. And it goes on and on and on. And these gospels preached to others around the world, around the known world. Therefore, it was foolishness for the Colossians to follow false teachers. who were nothing but seducers. False teachers leading people astray. Leading people astray from the true faith. And where is the true faith found? In Christ and Him alone. In Christ. So here before us, we have a distinction being made between those who make a profession of faith And they do not continue in the faith and those who do continue in the faith. Between those who God's grace preserves. Unto the end so that they do not fall away. How many people have we met over the years who make professions of faith and then they're gone? And I'm not talking folks who leave the church here and go somewhere else. I'm talking about people who abandon that which they professed. John the Apostle wrote, of those who abandoned the faith, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that they might be manifest, that they were not all of us." 1 John 2.19. Think of that verse in light of false teachers. False teachers. They went out from us. This phrase points to them willfully and voluntarily separating from the gospel. Those who abandon the faith. Those who abandon the faith. It is manifest they were not true believers, but just professors. A.W. Pink said there's two kinds of people in the church, possessors and professors. Well, there's actually three, unbelievers, professors, and possessors. And we can't tell a professor away from a true believer, but God can. God can. Now this is speaking again of those who abandon the faith and have no care for Christ and have no care for the gospel. And I can't tell you how many people, I used to go out in the streets in Oregon and talk to folks, and I cannot tell you, and I used to go to the Mission too, I can't tell you how many people who I ran into and talked to who had made a mere profession of faith. And they said, well, I'm good, Wayne. I fixed it up 30 years ago. And you ask them, well, you ever been to church, or you ever go anywhere to hear the gospel? Oh, no, no. I can go out in nature. walk around and be close to God that way? No. What's our scripture say tonight? It says, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard and which was preached to every creature, which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. Now, we all stray. We saw that in the psalm. And we know we all stray and we all sin. But what keeps us? God's enabling grace. Why don't we go crazy? God's enabling grace. Oh, it's the love of Christ that constrains us, isn't it? It constrains us. And most of those people that I ran into, they either prayed a prayer Or they were baptized somewhere. They basically, at this one church back there, this one Armenian church, people would make a profession, they'd take them right in the baptismal. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. But most of these folks that I talked to had nothing more than a refuge of lies. Their refuge was the fact that they had prayed a prayer, or walked an aisle, or even been baptized. And this is nothing but a refuge of lies, which is called easy believism. And I remember hearing, I think it was Brother Henry Mahan said, we will never know the damage that easy believism has done this side of eternity. We will never know. Let's look at it again in our text. It says, if ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, now God gives his elect preserving grace. And they persevere. He which hath begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ, Philippians 1, 6. He will. The Lord Jesus Christ is building his church, beloved. And that's why I say we are on the gospel ship, and we are going forward. And the Lord is piloting the ship. The ropes are out. Oh. The Lord Jesus Christ is building this church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And remember this, beloved, what blessed truth for we who believe. Those the Lord saves, He keeps. He keeps. Now here's a little something, though, to encourage us. I was talking to Jean-Claude last night, and he said that a couple that he knew left church for 35 years. And he recently went back to the church in England, and they were there again. And he was rejoicing. So there's hope. There's hope. Let's look at four words in our text here before we move into the latter part of this verse. Look at this. If you continue in the faith grounded, Grounded. In the Greek, it's to lay the foundation. To lay the foundation. To found. To make stable. Establish. Render firm. Unwavering. Unwavering. So the believer is established. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians 3. The believer is established in their faith in Christ. They have a firm foundation. And Christ is the believer's foundation. And when we look to Him, we look to Him unwavering. We look to Him, O Lord, You are the only One who can keep me. Ephesians 3, 16 and 17, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with all might by His Spirit in the inner man. See who's doing the strengthening? It's not us, is it? It's the Holy Spirit of God. He strengthens us. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye be in what? Rooted. In what? Grounded in love. Rooted and grounded. Oh, and our text tonight says grounded. And then it goes on to say settled. I'll read a verse from 1 Peter. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish you, strengthen you, settle you. 1 Peter 5.10. The believer is set fast and established in Jesus Christ our Lord. Then the next word is settled in our text. Grounded. Grounded and settled. Settled. It means sedentary. Sedentary. Settled. Steady. Constant. Constant. Oh, God, give us strength to be sedentary in Christ. Oh, God's people are kept by the power of God. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. God's people are kept by the power of God. They preserve in the faith which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. They are firm, constantly coming to Christ, right? I remember hearing an old grace preacher one time, he said, we're saved, we're being saved, and we will be saved. We are continuously coming to Christ. That's what this verse talks about too, right? Continuously coming. Repentance is not a one-time thing. Every saved sinner knows repentance is not a one-time thing. Are we not continuously repentant? Continuously coming to our Lord? Oh Lord, help my unbelief. Oh Lord, give me strength to overcome this situation. Always and always. Continuously coming to our great King. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 57 and 58. And keep this in mind with settled, sedentary, settled, steady, firm, constant. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is where the victory is. Not in ourselves, beloved, but in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's in Him. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, sedentary, right? Sedentary, right? Unmovable, always abounded in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Settle, grounded and settled. And then look at the next words. And be not moved away. Moved away. is defined in the Greek. Moved away is actually one Greek word. It's defined to move from a place to move away. Now God's people may stray for a while. Look at that couple that Jean-Claude mentioned to me. And I know Norm told me there was a couple that left for six years. And they came back and they said, oh Norm, we should never have left. And they were welcomed like they never left. That's how I want us to be, too. And that's how we are. That's how we are. We treat folks like they've never left. And be not moved away, though. Now, God's people, as I said, they may stray for a while, but our gracious Lord will bring us back, doesn't He? If you're one of His, He'll bring you back. He'll bring you back. And God's people are not moved away from the hope. They have a hope in the Gospel. They have a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our hope. He's our hope. Our hope and our object of our faith is Christ and Him alone. We who are in Christ are grounded. and settled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you've got a lot of folks, they're trying to gain merit and favor with God. Well, why does a believer do works or do things for the Lord? It's not to gain merit and favor. It's because of what He's done for us. We love the Brethren. We love the Gospel. We want it to go forth with power. Only the Holy Spirit can empower that, but we desire to send it to support those who are preaching the Gospel in prayer for other churches too. Oh, we desire this. We who are in Christ are grounded and settled in the Lord Jesus Christ by how? How do we, we sinners, How do we become grounded and settled? By the preaching of the gospel. By the preaching of Christ and the Holy Spirit taking those words and applying them to our hearts and building us up in Christ. We saw that on Sunday. We're built up. We're built up in Christ. He takes the preaching of the word to each saint and applies it how he's pleased to do that. I've listened to a message and someone else is rejoicing and I got it right between the eyes. But it's good. And we even rejoice when we get it right between the eyes. Because we know that it's for our good and for His glory. Oh, the Lord is so good. He's so good. He gently corrects His people by the preaching of the Word. So when false teachers come in, we can say to them, being grounded and settled in the Word of God, being grounded and settled in the Gospel, when a false teacher comes and says, well, I say this is what the Bible says, we can look in Scripture and say, but the Scripture doesn't say that. This Word doesn't say that. So we are able to discern by the teaching of the Holy Spirit what is truth and what is error. And it's God teaching us, grounding us, settling us, making us sedentary in Christ by the teaching and preaching of the gospel. It strengthens us. It strengthens us to face each day as it comes. It gives us strength. It gives us hope. And we are able to discern that which is truth and that which is error by the teaching of the Holy Spirit of God. And how? Through the preaching of the gospel. The believer in Christ becomes grounded and settled in what? Sound doctrinal truths. Who are sound doctrinal truths in? Christ. Doctrine points to Christ. It tells us the wonderful, marvelous things that God has done for the believer. And it strengthens us. It strengthens us. Our text continues, "...hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven." Here again, we've been seeing this in multiple texts. Here again, right before us, we see the importance of preaching the gospel. We see the importance of preaching the free grace of God in Christ. And we see the importance of hearing the preaching. Why? Because we become grounded and settled in Christ by hearing the preaching of the gospel. How can one hear the gospel? How can one hear about Christ if the gospel's not preached? They can't, can they? Thus the importance, again, the importance of preaching the gospel every time that pulpit's filled. The importance of it. And praise God that for that whole year and a year that faithful men came and filled the pulpit. And what did they do? They proclaimed Christ to you. And Brother John and Brother Tim were faithful too to get in and preach the Gospel, to preach Christ. And what did the saints do? We rejoiced, don't we? We rejoiced. There again. He must preach the gospel. Now think of this, beloved. Jesus Christ is the one true hope of what? Every believer, right? He's the one true hope. We have hope nowhere else. We have laid down our arms, right? We've taken sides with God against ourselves. That's what the believer does. He lays down his arms and he's obtained mercy. He knows he doesn't deserve it. We know what we are. We know what we are. So the one true hope of every believer is Christ. Again, hence the importance of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ being preached. So the one true hope of every believer is Christ, and hence the importance of gospel preachers lifting up that blessed hope to you, to me, to all of us who believe. I need to hear the gospel. When I select a sermon to listen to off a sermon audio, I pick men who will preach the gospel to me. I pick faithful men who will proclaim Christ to me. That's who I want to hear about. And if I happen to click on a sermon and the guy starts the doo-doo religion, he's gone. And it usually takes about three minutes. It doesn't take long, because grace preachers, what do they do? They make a beeline for Christ. Right for Christ. Right for him. And this is why also it's vital to attend a church where the gospel is being preached. It's vital. As God is not saving anyone under the false preaching of do this and do that religion. Now some folks might not agree with that, but I'm sorry, it's true. If a man is preaching works, there's no salvation in there. Salvation only comes through the free grace of God in Christ. In works, religion will lead a person to one place, hell. To their eternal doom, if they trust in that. But we who believe, who is our hope? It's not our works, is it? Not at all. It's only in Christ. In the preaching of the gospel, the preaching of God's free grace, what we preach is the same thing that many men, you can go through, look back in time and see a trail of men who teach exactly what we teach. It's incredible. And most of the great revivals of the past were all the same kind of doctrines that we teach, beloved. Great revivals. preaching of God's free, sovereign grace, plus nothing. Salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. And we who believe are grounded, grounded, grounded in what Christ has done. Only the Lord Jesus Christ and He alone has accomplished salvation for His people by the sacrifice of Himself. There was no one there to help Him. He didn't need anyone's help. As a matter of fact, he saved one of them thieves who could do nothing on their own, who was hanging right beside him. And by his sovereign grace and mercy, he plucked the bran from the fire. And he said to that, we were talking about that today, he said to that thief, today, and all that thief said was remember me. And he said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Today. Oh, what a glorious God we have. What a mighty Savior. What a great God. Salvation is of the Lord, period. Nothing added. Think of this, beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ is a sufficient, sufficient and complete Savior of His people. He's fully sufficient. There's nothing to be added. There's nothing else needed. This is why we hammer the fact that it's not in your works. that it's only in Christ. And as we hear the gospel preached, as we hear the good news of salvation in Christ and Him alone, the Holy Spirit strengthens us, doesn't He? Strengthens us and grounds us in this faith where we become unmovable. Sink or swim, I'll trust in Him. He's my King. He's my Rock. Turn, if you would, over to Colossians 3. The Lord Jesus Christ is a complete and sufficient Savior of His people. But Paul is warning the Colossians not to relapse into their former state. Let's look at Colossians 3, verses 5-11. The believers' responsibilities in their daily walk before God and the people of this world are clearly set forth in holy scriptures. Look at Colossians 3, verses 5 to 11. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. See, we can't go crazy. Antinobianism says you can go out that door and do whatever you please. No, the believer won't do that. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Fornication, uncleanness. Inordinate affection, evil conspicuousness, and covetousness, which is idolatry. For which thing's sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience? In the which ye also walk sometimes. We were there. See, this is why I always say, never forget the rock you were hewn from. Never forget the rock we're hearing from. Never forget where we came from. Never forget where the Lord saved us, and how he did, by his free and sovereign grace, in the which he also walked sometime when you lived in them. But now put off... But now ye also put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all in all. Where is Christ all in all? In what we believe, in the gospel. Hey, he's everything. And he becomes to the believer everything. Everything. This is why we say, once you've heard grace preaching, it ruins you for everything else. Because you don't want to hear anything else. And think of this. God's faithful preachers bring these responsibilities before our congregations, right? But they're always coupled with the grace, with the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What He's done. What He's done. So Paul is here exhorting them not to be led away or astray by false teachers, by the Gnostics, who are saying, well, you know, it's faith in Christ, but we have this hidden knowledge that only we know about, this deeper understanding. No. Salvation's in Christ alone. It's in Him alone. So He's exhorting them not to be led astray by these false teachers because Christ is a complete and sufficient Savior. And we know that He's already brought that up, right? The supremacy of Christ in the verses that we looked at before. He's already been bringing up before the Colossians the fact that Christ is sufficient. The fact that He's the Creator. The fact that He's supreme. That salvation is only found in Him and nowhere else. That He's the great Peacemaker. That He's reconciled us to God by His precious blood. Nothing added. Only Christ. Only Christ. Now, there's some in our day who constantly teach and preach practical godliness or Christian living. But they never preach the Gospel. They don't preach the gospel, and they are not God's preachers. They are false teachers, beloved. False teachers. God's preachers will proclaim Christ. They will proclaim the gospel. Every single time they're asked to speak, no matter where they're asked to speak, they will preach and proclaim the gospel of Christ and salvation in Him plus nothing. Christ and Him crucified. And then our text continues, look what it says, which ye have heard. Which ye have heard. So they heard, they were not just listening, but beloved God gave them hearing ears. And seeing eyes. To see and to hear Christ. To look to the blessed Savior. To look to the blessed Savior. So Paul's again telling them, this is the gospel you heard. It was just Christ. See, so they can tell the difference. They can discern the error of the Gnostic teachers, which are adding something. No. And our text continues, which was preached to every creature which is under heaven. Beloved, the gospel has no boundaries. No boundaries. None at all. No racial boundaries, no national boundaries, no regional boundaries. It goes forth with power, empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. And whosoever believe it, the Lord's sheep are gathered in, are gathered in. Oh, the marvels of the gospel. The unwilling are made willing. The unbelieving become believers. The blossomer becomes one who praises. Oh, only God can do this. This is a work of a mighty God. And who's the object? Who's the object of the faith of those Who have been granted faith? Christ. Christ in him alone. They are given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are saved. Remember the Philippian jailer? What must I do to be saved? You catch that? What must I do? Now again, if there was ever a time when there was anything based upon our works, Paul says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Believe. Look to the mighty Savior. Look to the one who can make us white as snow. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And let us think on this, that this is stated for the Colossian saints when it says, "...in which was preached to every creature which is under heaven." This was stated for the Colossian saints to know that the same gospel which Epaphras had preached to them, the same gospel which Paul preached, which they had believed is being heard and received all around the known world by both Jews and Gentiles. And therefore, they could be assured, beloved, such as we can be assured, that there is no other gospel than that which they have received. No other gospel which can save your soul. None. The true gospel of the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ. And the Gnostics were trying to add to that. Well, we have folks in our day who try to add to that, but it's not the gospel. It's a perversion. Because the gospel is all about what Christ has done for his people. It's all about what he's done. It's all about him. So therefore, they could be assured that there was no other gospel than that which Paul and Epaphras had preached to them, and that it was going forth in the world. And let us think on this. This is written for our benefit today. Here we are reading, years and years later, for our benefit. for us to know that this gospel that Paul preached, this gospel of Jesus Christ and Him alone, and about what He's done, is the true gospel. It's all about what He's done. You know, I've said this many times, if you add just a pinprick of works to grace, what? It's no more grace, is it? It's been polluted. But we preach a gospel that proclaims what Christ has done for his people. And he did it all. And how he is mighty to save. And this makes God's people rejoice. Because he keeps us. I don't know if you would, the first Timothy. Actually, I'm sorry. Turn to Colossians 15 first, and then you can turn to 1 Timothy as well. And our text concludes with this. Our text concludes with this. Where have I, Paul, made a minister? The minister of the gospel is one who knows the gospel, beloved. One who knows the gospel. One who has been saved by Christ. Saved by the Christ of the gospel, which he proclaims. We have a heart full of joy, and we proclaim the gospel to others. It's a joy. 1 Corinthians 15 says this, verses 9-11. Look at this. Paul says this, for I am the least of the apostles. For I am the least of the apostles that am not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. Remember our text that says, where have I, Paul, made a minister? But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believe." And then turn, if you would, to Ephesians 3 and then we'll go to 1 Timothy. So Paul did not take this office unto himself, did he? Our scripture says, where have I, Paul, then made a minister? He didn't take this office unto himself. God's preachers are called. We don't seek out. We don't seek out the ministry. God calls us to the ministry. And he gives gifts. He gifts the minister to preach. He gifts the preacher to preach. Look at Ephesians 3, verses 7-10, whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power unto me. Now remember, he said that he's the least of all apostles. Here he says, unto me, who am the least of all saints, is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers and heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." And then turn to 1 Timothy 1.15. And again, I'll read in our text in 23, in the latter part of verse 23 in Colossians 1, it says, "...whereof I, Paul, am made a minister." God's preachers are sent of God. They're sent of God. And think of this. I'm one beggar telling other beggars where to find bread. I'm a mercy beggar. Are you? I'm a mercy beggar. I beg for mercy all the time. Oh, my great king, God have mercy on me. And I'm sure you do too, who believe. We're just mercy beggars. That's all we are. Now remember, he said, I'm the least of the apostles, and then he said, I'm the least of all saints. 1 Timothy 1, 15-17, this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Notice the progression. He sees less and less of himself. He sees what he is. Now he says he's the chief of sinners. Palibate for this cause. Look at this. I obtain mercy. If you're a believer in Christ, you obtain mercy. You didn't get what you deserved. I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting. Now unto the eternal immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. So God's preachers are made preachers by the grace of God in Christ. And I remember hearing Henry say that God will call a man to preach the gospel, and then he'll equip that man, and then he'll grow the preacher. And that's what happens. No preacher can take any credit. We are what we are. We're just mercy beggars, as I say. Telling other beggars where to find bread. And may God keep us there. Every one of us who believe. May we never forget where we came from. Never forget where the Lord saved us from. And think of this, beloved. Let us remember this. All the redeemed of God are sinners saved by the grace of God through the merits of Jesus Christ. Through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Savior, period. Plus nothing. And all the redeemed are at one time, at one time we all wallowed in that, in the same cesspool of iniquity. That's where we were when God found us. In the cesspool of iniquity, before we were saved. And He reached down and plucked us. And think of this. All the redeemed have the same imputed righteousness. The same imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. And all the redeemed of God have been washed clean in the precious blood of Christ. And all the redeemed of God have the same Heavenly Father. That's why we're family. Because we have the same Father. We have the same blessed hope which is in Christ and Him alone. We have the same faith. We have the same inheritance reserved in heaven for all of God's blood-bought children. And think of this too. God places each member in the body of Christ as it pleases Him. It is God who makes us to differ It's God who makes us to differ from our family members. It's God who makes us to differ with our giftings. Some are called to be pastors, and some are called to be elders, and some are called to be deacons, and some are called to be Sunday school teachers, and some are called to be musicians, and some are called to be helpers in other ways. God has gifted all his people. And some are gifted with edification. And don't you find when we get together that we get edified and built up? Why? Because we're from the same family. There's nowhere else I want to be. So it's God who's given us different gifts. And we are to use those gifts for His glory and His honor and His praise as we serve in His kingdom. as we serve in this kingdom, which He, remember we looked at this weeks back, which He has translated us into. Out of darkness, into the kingdom of His dear Son. And let us remember this. We're closed with this. Let us remember this. We are upheld by His omnipotent Gapped. Saddled. Grounded. Praise his mighty name. Fr. John, can you close us with a psalm? Well, if you're grounded and you're saddled, it's because you have an angel. So if you turn with me to hymnals in number 255, it's a good song to close with tonight. We have an anchor. Look at that last line down there, if you look with me, it says something. In the middle of the last line, guess what? You're grounded, earned, and deep in the Savior's love. Number 264. Let's stand. the storms of life, when the clouds unfold.