Amen, that's good singing. We praise the Lord for that gospel reality that is surely as we have been justified that one day we will be glorified. What an assurance. What a hope that is to our souls. If you have your scriptures this evening, I would ask you to turn to the New Testament epistle to the Colossians Colossians Chapter 2. And we will read the first 15 verses there in Colossians Chapter 2. You haven't figured out by now when I get a little nervous, my mouth gets dry and so I need to drink water. So I appreciate you all putting up with me in that. Colossians chapter two, and let's read the first 15 verses of the chapter. Let's all give our attention to the word of the Lord. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom. and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be present in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joining and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk ye in him. rooted and built up in him, established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his cross and having spoiled principalities and powers he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it. Amen. And may the Lord bless this reading of his precious word to our hearts this evening. As we come to the message, let's bow for a word of prayer. One more time. Let's all bow. Oh, Lord, our God, as we come to your word once again, We admit our own insufficiency to rightly understand your word and to rightly apply your word apart from the help of the Holy Spirit of God. But Lord, we thank you that the Holy Spirit has been promised to accompany the reading and the preaching of the Holy Spirit of God. We thank you that your word will not return void, but it will accomplish the thing to which you send it, and it will prosper in that great purpose. And we pray that that truth, that that promise of your word would hold true this evening. I pray, Lord, that we wouldn't hear more of man's thoughts, of man's philosophies and man's opinions, but Lord, we pray that we would hear the voice of God through your holy scriptures, through your word. We pray that the spirit would fill me and would accompany the preaching of the word. I pray that we would be more than hearers, preachers of the word, but that we would be doers of that word as well. Lord, apply your word with power to our hearts. We pray these things for the honor and the glory of Christ. Amen. This evening, with the Lord's help, I want to address the issue of spiritual maturity in the life of the believer, here from Colossians chapter 2. The basic question is this. How are we, as the children of God, as believers, to become more and more spiritually mature? How are we to progress in our sanctification? How are we to grow in grace and grow in the faith? If you are familiar with literature that's out there and just basic ideas that men and women have about growth and grace and going on and becoming more and more spiritually mature, you'll know that there are many who suggest that growing in grace and becoming more and more spiritually mature comes down to principles. It comes down to keeping lists of principles and following five steps to this and seven steps to that. just having a very man-centered approach to sanctification. I'm not trying to suggest that principles, that obedience, that keeping even the commands of scripture is not important, but just exerting more effort, keeping lists of principles is not the answer on its own, by itself, to growth and grace. On the other hand, you have many who suggest that growth in grace, that becoming spiritually mature is more of a passive thing. The let go, let God movement is prominent on this camp, where there's an emphasis upon a passive letting go and a passive experience of going to a deeper, higher plane with the Lord. Even the second blessing movement is part of that camp as well. sanctification is accomplished in some sort of crisis in the life of the believer through which the believer then becomes more sanctified just in that experience. The day-by-day progressive sanctification and growth and grace is not so much an emphasis among that camp. So on both sides, there's error. There's wrong ideas about how the believer is to become more and more mature in the faith. And it seems that wrong ideas about spiritual maturity are not only prevalent in our day, but they were prevalent in the Apostle Paul's day as well. And in writing this book of Colossians, the Apostle Paul is firing a salvo against any conception that diminishes the supremacy and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ for the spiritual maturity of the believer. And studying the book of the epistle of Colossians and understanding something of what the drift of the apostles teaching, it's not really clear what heresy the apostle is writing to refute. It's not really clear what false teaching he's writing to oppose simply because he spends his time in this epistle reminding the believers, rehearsing before the believers of all that they have in Christ, of their union with Christ, of correct, sound, orthodox doctrine, rather than just refuting that specific heresy. But as we study the epistle, as we note different pieces of evidence from the epistle, things that the apostle writes, it seems that there were some teachers who had come to the Colossian congregation And they brought with them a sort of early Gnosticism, along with some Judaizing ideas. Basically, it came down to this. To really become spiritually mature, you need to avoid the material. Touch not, taste not, handle not. You need to just have this sort of super spiritual experience that's divorced from the material world. They also combined elements of the old ceremonial law. Of course, that had already been abolished by the work of Christ. But they were bringing that ceremonial law to bear upon the Colossian believers as well. Some observances of that abolished ceremonial law. And the most damaging aspect of the heresy that these false teachers were bringing before the Colossian believers was the diminishing of the person and the work of Jesus Christ. They were saying that communion with God comes not through the work of Christ, through the person of Christ as fully revealed in scripture, but that it comes through a communion with a series of angel-liker or supernatural beings or emanations, rather than through the fully sufficient Son of God. So against all this wrong teaching, this heresy, the Apostle Paul once again reminds the believers of what they have in Christ, His fullness, His sufficiency. The Apostle Paul makes this I'm sorry, John Calvin makes this statement in regard to Paul's intent in writing the epistle. John Calvin wrote this, this is the principal object at which Paul aims, to teach that all things are in Christ and that he alone ought to be reckoned as amply sufficient by the Colossians. And the Lord Jesus and our union that we have with him is fully sufficient not just for our salvation, but for our sanctification as well. And that's what the Apostle Paul, time and again, he brings the Colossian believers back to their union with the Lord Jesus, to what they have in him. And it's certainly a model of teaching that holds much application for us as well. There are wrong teaching, there's much heresy. even as Dr. Sidwell was talking about Sunday school this morning, there's much wrong teaching out there. There's many ways to do false teaching, but only one way to do right teaching. And we ought to follow the Apostle Paul's model here of time and again coming back to the gospel, coming back to our union with Christ, reminding ourselves, instructing ourselves in our union with Christ, what is ours in him, correct Orthodox doctrine. So that's what I want to come to this evening for our theme as we address the issue of spiritual maturity and how it is to be accomplished in the life of the believer want to see from scripture from Colossians 2. in particular verses 6 through 15, that our spiritual maturity is based upon our union with Christ. It's our union with Christ that underlies all of our ongoing walk with the Lord, our spiritual maturity in the faith. And as we consider that theme, We want to organize our thoughts under three main headings or three observations here in verses 6 through 15, and then we will seek to apply, we'll try to apply these things to our lives. So first of all, we see in verses six and seven of Colossians two, the manner of spiritual maturity or what, basically what spiritual maturity is to look like in the life of the believer. In verse eight, we find a warning against spiritual immaturity or those things that would produce spiritual immaturity in the life of the believer. And verses nine through 15, we find the great focus of spiritual maturity, the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, once again, the manner of spiritual maturity, a warning against spiritual immaturity, and the focus of spiritual maturity, the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, first of all, let's look at the manner of spiritual maturity. What does spiritual maturity look like in the life of the believer? Note verse 6. The apostle writes here to the Colossian believers, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. He reminds the believers that they have received Christ Jesus and that it is in Christ that they are to walk, or it's in union with Jesus Christ that they are to be sanctified, that they are to continue in the faith. As the believer has received the gospel, so he is to walk in the gospel. As he has received Christ, so he is to walk with Christ. We have received Christ by faith. We are to continue in the Christian experience by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can sum up what the Apostle Paul is saying here by this simple statement. The believer is to walk in accordance with what he has received. He is to walk worthy of the gospel that has saved him. It's not that there's this divorce between that which initially saves us and the way in which we progress in the faith. Yes, justification are our entrance into union with Christ. It's all the free grace of God. It's It's an act of God. It's not our effort that produces that. And sanctification does demand our effort, does demand our obedience. But the bottom line is that it's our union with Jesus Christ that underlies both that initial salvation and our ongoing walk with the Lord. Salvation is not a sanctification. Rather, it's not a do-it-yourself project. It's not going and just keeping lists of principles, keeping the imperatives, the commands of scripture on your own. It's rooted in what you have in the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel plays just as an important part in our sanctification as it does in our salvation. Let's ever remember that. And let's heed the example of the Apostle Paul continually in his writings when he addresses the practical issues of life, when he addresses these imperatives, these commands that we are to follow as believers. He does it against the backdrop of the gospel time and again. He reminds the believers, this is what you have in Christ. This is the mercy that God has shown you in the gospel. Now, be obedient. Now, serve the Lord wholeheartedly, not to earn that favor, but out of gratitude for what is yours in Christ. Remember Romans 12 and verse 1. Paul writes to Romans there, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. It's the gospel mercies of God that the Apostle has just spent 11 chapters expounding. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Our sanctification, the command to be obedient, to follow after the Lord, it's grounded in what is ours in Christ, the tremendous gospel mercy that has saved us. Ephesians 4.1, again, the Apostle Paul reminds us of what is ours in Christ as he moves into those practical commands of what the Christian life is to look like. Ephesians 4.1, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you, that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. He reminds them of their calling. He reminds them that they had been saved by sovereign grace, that such great gospel mercy had saved them. Now, walk worthy of Christ. So in our experience, in our context, let's be very careful not to divorce the indicatives or what is ours in Christ and the gospel from the imperatives of the faith. We are to do this and be obedient. Let's not divorce those two. It's all found in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what first six is driving home as you therefore receive Christ Jesus the Lord. So walkie in him and verse 7. Reinforces further reinforces this point. Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as ye have been taught abounding therein with Thanksgiving. The Apostle here uses two images to reinforce the idea that we are to grow. We are to advance in the faith. in union with Jesus Christ. And the first of these is the idea of a tree or the idea of a plant. We are rooted in Christ. And certainly that image reminds us of our Savior's teaching over in John 15. And Dr. Barrett reminded us of this just a couple weeks back. But I'll read that verse, John 15, verse 5, once again, as it's such a such a needful reminder to us. John 15, verse 5, The Lord Jesus says, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, ye can do nothing. And let's remember that our Savior, the Lord Jesus, is the vine, and that we are in that vital union with him. Without him, without that union, we can do nothing. Yes, obedience is necessary. Yes, we must keep the commands of God, but we can only do so as we are completely dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ, upon the grace of his Holy Spirit to work in us, to work out that salvation with fear and trembling. We can only advance in the faith as we are in union with Jesus Christ. And that first image reminds us of that reality. The second image that the Apostle Paul uses here is that we have been built up in him. And here the image is not of a tree, but it's of a building. And Christ is that foundation. Remember the words of 1 Corinthians 3.11, for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation upon which a spiritually mature Christian can be built. but that foundation that is ours in Jesus Christ. So the Apostle uses those images to further reinforce this point. We can only progress in the faith as we are in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Note in particular that last phrase in verse 7. As we have been taught and established in the faith, abounding therein with Thanksgiving. And here's the motive. Here's the motive to all of our growth in grace, our spiritual maturity. It's abounding therein with Thanksgiving, with gratitude to God for what he has done. Sadly, so much of the time, don't we as believers, don't we try to motivate ourselves to greater obedience, to greater faithfulness by fear, by guilt, by a mere sense of duty? But yet, it's gratitude to Christ for what he has done that should motivate our holiness, that should motivate our obedience. When we stand amazed at the foot of the cross and behold our Savior, see what he has done for us, the sense of gratitude, the sense of thanksgiving, that should motivate us to desire to follow after the Lord, to keep the commands, to keep the imperatives before us in scripture. That's the motivation. So that's the manner of spiritual maturity, something of what spiritual maturity looks like in the life of the believers, to be grounded in Christ, rooted and built up in him, abounding therein with thanksgiving. That's the motive to spiritual maturity. But then we, as we move into verse eight, we see a great warning against spiritual immaturity, a great warning that the apostle brings against spiritual immaturity or against those things that would produce spiritual immaturity in the lives of believers. Let's look there at verse eight. Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Let's endeavor to dig into this verse a bit and see what the apostle is saying here. He's urging the Colossian believers not to be turned aside for following Christ, for being rooted and build up in him. He calls them to beware. And the word beware can be literally translated, see to it, be on your guard. Be aware, be on the lookout for false teaching that would lead you away from Christ. And this is not, beloved, this is not an isolated teaching in Scripture. But all throughout Scripture, you have the command to be on the lookout, to be on guard against false teaching that would lead us away from Christ. Our Lord Jesus and essentially all the New Testament writers call us to watch out for false teaching. The Lord Jesus issues such a warning to the disciples in Matthew 7, 15, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Remember Paul's warning to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 verses 29 through 31. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, watch and remember that by the space of three years, I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears." So the call for believers to be on the lookout, to be on guard against false teaching. runs right through scripture. We could multiply more and more examples, but I believe we understand that the call to be vigilant against false teaching that would lead us away from Christ is found all through the scriptures. What would these false teachers do to the Church of God? Paul says right here in our text, beware lest any man spoil you. And that can literally be translated as beware lest any take you captive or plunder you with their teaching. What is the work of the false teacher but to spoil, to take captive weak, immature believers who are not rooted and grounded in the gospel? That's the work of these false teachers, what they would endeavor to accomplish among the Colossian church. What's the substance of these heresies that they would be teaching? Paul lists several descriptions of this philosophy as we move through verse 8. He says that they will spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. By using the word philosophy here, Paul is not referring to the academic discipline of philosophy, but he's referring to man-centered opinions that are divorced from the truth of God. False teachers would use pleasant-sounding philosophy to ensnare the weak, immature believers among the Colossian assembly. This man-centered philosophy would build up man's pride, would make him feel good about himself, would build up his self-esteem and his self-deception. The weak and the immature would not know the difference between this philosophy and sound biblical teaching. This teaching would, we also know from the verse, that it would be built upon man's tradition rather than upon the authoritative scripture of God. That's another mark of this false teaching. They were trying to lead the Colossian believers away back into the abolished ceremonial law. You have some evidence of that later on down in Colossians 2, verses 16 and 17. The apostle writes there, let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come. but the body is of Christ. So there is more than a hint of man's traditions of getting back to the abolished ceremonial law to bind the consciences of these Colossian believers, to draw them away from Christ, from the authoritative truth of God. The phrase the rudiments after the rudiments of the world is not an easy phrase to interpret. The Greek literally means things in a row and primarily refers to the letters in the alphabet, one right after another. And I don't think we use the phrase the rudiments of the world very much in ordinary talk. So it's not a very easy phrase to interpret, but John MacArthur offers the following explanation as to what the apostle is striving at here in Colossians 2.8 by using that phrase. Paul might be describing the false belief system of the Colossian errorists as rudimentary or too simplistic for mature spiritual adults to accept their teaching would be to descend, to regress from the mature teaching of scripture to the infantile teachings of an immature religion. based not on advanced thinking and wisdom, but on silly and childish thoughts. To abandon biblical truth for empty philosophy is like returning to kindergarten after earning a doctorate. And certainly it is silly to even contemplate the notion of returning to kindergarten after earning a doctorate. But yet that is the substance of these false teachings, to lead believers away from a mature grounding in Christ. to these silly, childish, immature ideas based upon man's opinion rather than upon the truth of God. And that very last phrase of verse 8 is the touchstone. for all false teaching, for all heresy, for any opinion of man that's not based upon the authoritative truth of God, and not after Christ. Paul is saying you can take all this false teaching and apply this simple test. Does it build up Christ? Does it magnify Christ? Does it make much of Christ? Or does it build up man's pride? Does it build up his self-esteem? Does it make him feel better about himself? Does it tell him that he can accomplish this in his own strength on the basis of his own performance, whether it's salvation or sanctification or any of it? Or does it build up Christ? Does it make much of him? Does it teach us our need of complete dependence, complete reliance upon the Lord Jesus? Or does it build up our pride? That's the test that can be applied to all false teaching. There's much proclamation even in our own day that would lead men and women away from the simple truth of Jesus Christ. into the thoughts, the notions of man. But here's the bottom line, beloved. Proclamation that is not centered on Jesus Christ does not and cannot produce real spiritual maturity, real growth and grace. Man's philosophy, man's traditions do nothing but lead to spiritual immaturity, those things that are not based upon the doctrine of Christ authoritatively revealed in scripture. So the call here is to beware. Beware lest any man spoil you and lead you away from after Christ. So there's that warning against spiritual immaturity. So we move now. From this warning against spiritual immaturity, finally to the focus, the great focus of spiritual maturity, it's the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel. And we find this reality, Paul just getting us back to what Christ has done for us, lifting up Christ's person and Christ's work in verses 9 through 15 of the text. What is to be the focus of the spiritually mature believer? the person, the work of our Redeemer, the Lord Christ. Verse 9 tells us that in Christ dwells all, that in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In contrast to these weak and mature ideas that were being taught to the Colossian believers, The Apostle Paul proclaims the fullness of God that's found in Jesus Christ. All that God is has been revealed in Jesus Christ, his son. There's nothing lacking in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is true God of true God, fully God of fully God. If you want to see the Father, Look to Jesus Christ don't look to a cheap imitation Manufactured by man look to Jesus Christ and him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily Sufficiency fullness for the believer is found in him once again all that God is Jesus Christ is there's nothing lacking in him but The Apostle Paul, it's as if he's reasoning, why go for the infinitely lesser? Why go for a weak idea of man? You've got Christ, who is the very fullness of God. And as first 10 tells us, you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. Literally, this first means we have been filled in Jesus Christ in union with him. He is the head. He is the source of all authority and power. Once again, don't go for lesser, inferior philosophies. Jesus Christ is infinitely superior to all of man's traditions and his self-centered philosophies. In union with him, we are complete. We have been filled. There is an aching in our hearts for fullness. We try to fill that fullness, do we not, with the stuff of life, with the things, the pursuits of our daily lives. But the only way we will find that fullness is in Jesus Christ, in daily meditation upon what he has done. It's found in the gospel. And when you are tempted to turn aside to the false promises that these other things would offer. Remember, once again, bring yourself back to the reality that fullness is found in Jesus Christ. Remember what he has done for you. Remember your union with him. And as we work our way through verses 11 through 15 here, as we draw toward the end of the message, we find three gracious benefits of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have our identity in union with Jesus Christ. Identity. Our identity is that we are in Christ. Verses 11 and 12 are demonstrating this reality in Christ we are circumcised with that circumcision made without hands in Christ we have been buried with him in baptism and we are raised with him through faith the operation of God physical circumcision of course picture that that cutting away that removal of flesh But spiritually, in Christ, in our union with Him, our sins have been cut away, removed completely from us. We are also baptized spiritually into His death and into His resurrection. We are buried with Him in that spiritual baptism and raised to newness of life. Basically, what the Apostle is striving at here is that we are identified now as the children of God in union with Jesus Christ. No longer sons of the first Adam, identified with the fallen first Adam, but we are now in this glorious union with the Lord Jesus Christ, identified with him. Though we still battle sin, though we still battle the impurity, the remaining corruption within. That's not our identity, beloved. Our identity is that we are one with Jesus Christ and that water baptism. is the physical picture of the spiritual reality that we now possess. Our identity now is that we are believers united to Jesus Christ, and also we are connected to the local body, to the visible body, the church of God's people. Our identity is in union with him. We also find that we have forgiveness of sins in union with him. And we contemplated that truth this morning, the reality that our sins have all been atoned for, that they've been done away through the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Verses 13 to 14, and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. And the handwriting of ordinances is, as it were, a legal record of debt, those sins that we had committed. It's the debt that we owe as guilty, excuse me, vile sinners. But Jesus has taken that legal record of debt that we owe. He's nailed it to his cross. He has completely removed that from our account. It's like having someone come and pay the bill that we owe, that we could not pay. But so much, that's just a weak analogy for what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in the gospel. Removing the handwriting of ordinances that was contrary to us, took it out of the way nailing it to his cross. Remember the words of the hymn we sung this morning. My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. We have a full forgiveness of sins in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. not only do we have our identity in union with him and forgiveness of sins in union with him we lastly have victory in union with the Lord Christ look at verse fifteen and having spoiled principalities and powers He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished a mighty victory over his and our enemies. The image that the apostle uses in verse 15 is that of a Roman general who having won a great victory over his enemies, he now leads those enemies captive through the streets of the city. But what has the Lord Jesus Christ done? He has victoriously destroyed his and our enemies, triumphing over sin, over death, over hell. He has led captivity captive. He has spoiled principalities and powers. He has made an open show of them. He has led all these things captive. And because, beloved, we are in union with him, His victory is our victory as well. And one day we will experience the full and final benefit of that victory as sin and death and hell. All those enemies are finally swallowed up and all those enemies are brought to final destruction. And it's all ours because of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the focus of spiritual maturity. If we would grow in grace, we would grow make real advances in the faith. It's not man-made philosophies we need. It's not endless lists of man's principles, those things divorced from God's Word. Yes, we need to obey. Yes, we need to be faithful. But we only do so as our focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ, our union with Him, all that is ours in Him listed for us, rehearsed for us, reminded to us. on the pages of scripture. In Christ alone, we have real fullness and sufficiency. In Christ alone, we have our identity as believers. In Christ alone, we have the forgiveness of our sins. And in Christ alone, we have real victory over our enemies. This is the key, the biblical answer to our growth in grace. May the Holy Spirit of God take these things and apply them to our hearts. We need him. We need the Holy Spirit to drive these truths home. Man can't do it. We can't take these things and take our focus away from the things around us that would grasp for our attention. We need the work of the Holy Spirit. We need him to take these things and write them on our hearts. So let's pray that the Lord would do that through the power of his grace, through the power of his Holy Spirit. Let's all pray. O Lord our God, we thank you for your truth. We thank you for all that is ours because of Christ. We thank you that we have full forgiveness, that we have full identity, that we have all these great blessings, benefits because of our union with our Savior. Lord, we thank you for the communion that we now have with the living God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray that you would continue to write these things on our hearts. Lord, we own our own frailty, our own insufficiency, even on a daily basis to grow and to Do it ourselves or we pray that you would deliver us from just relying on our own strength and that we would go forth in the power and the grace. and the victory of the gospel. We thank you for what our Savior has done for us. We thank you for his victory. We thank you that we are in union with him. And we ask that even in the days of this week, that we will grow as our eyes are fixed upon our Savior. Lord, write these things on our hearts. I pray that your spirit would come and would apply the word to every heart. Go with us now. We need your grace. We pray these things for our Savior's glory alone. Amen.