We read God's word this evening as it is found in Acts chapter 20. Acts 20, we begin our reading at verse 13. Acts 20 verse 13. The context is that Paul is at the end of his third missionary journey, his third missionary journey. And Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. And it's on his way to Jerusalem that he stops in a town called Miletus, where he meets the elders of Ephesus. The elders of Ephesus and the congregation of Ephesus is the church which he spent the most time at on his third missionary journey. Acts 20 verse 13, hear the word of God. And we went before to ship and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul, for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot, And when He met with us at Assos, we took Him in and came to Mytilene. And we sailed thence and came the next day over against Chios. And the next day we arrived at Samos and tarried at Trogoleum. And the next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would not spend the time in Asia, for he hasted if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house. testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me, But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto me, so that I might finish my course with joy in the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 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 ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring he ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all, and they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. and they accompanied Him unto the ship. We read that far in God's holy and inspired Word. The text that we specially consider tonight is verse 32 in its context. Verse 32, And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, as I noted before I read the Scriptures, Acts 20 reveals unto us the Savior guiding the Apostle Paul on his missionary journey, the third one, to bring the Gospel to the nations. Paul was nearing the end of that third missionary journey. On this third missionary journey, he had already spent three years in Ephesus. And the work there in Ephesus had been difficult, but fruitful. It had been difficult. In chapter 19, if you skim that chapter, you'll find specific difficulties where Paul had to face Seven Jewish sons of Sceva who were envious of Paul and his ability to do miracles. In chapter 19, you'll find the specific event of Demetrius and the other Gentiles who hated him because he took away, they thought, the business of selling trinkets dedicated to Diana of the Ephesians. The Apostle Paul not only faced the sons of Sceva and Demetrius and the Gentiles who hated him and caused an uproar in the city, but in chapter 20, verse 19 that we read, Paul sums up the difficulty of those three years, especially pointing to this, verse 19 of chapter 20, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews. There were many, especially of the Jewish kind, who opposed Paul. These Jews going about to establish their own righteousness before God and trying to focus the people on their own works of obedience to the law as that which made them righteous, these Jews opposed Paul and the gospel always. And they were always, as Paul says, lying in wait to catch him at his words in order to falsely accuse him of antinomianism, perhaps, or a slighting of good works and the obedience of the law. They always sought to find fault with Paul in his preaching and in his ministry. But Paul kept on preaching. He kept on teaching. Verse 20 says, publicly as well as from house to house. And God blessed the labors of Paul in Ephesus. He preached, verse 27 says, all the counsel of God, meaning all of the will of God regarding the salvation of his people. Paul preached justification by faith alone, the heart of the gospel. He didn't stop. And he also preached sanctification by faith alone, which follows inevitably. He preached not only the old man that remains in us, continuing in its power, its total depravity, but also he preached a new man, a new heart, reigning within the child of God. He preached man's utter inability to do good, and yet also preached the work of the Spirit within man to regenerate and to make him vigorous, both to will and to do of God's good pleasure. He preached against legalism, Arminianism, and he preached against antinomianism and lawlessness. He did not neglect any part of God's Word. For three years, he did this, preaching all the counsel of God. And the result is, notice chapter 19, verse 10, This continued by the space of two years so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. The advancement of the gospel was such that not only did the church in Ephesus grow, but the gospel that was within Ephesus went abroad in all the region of Asia Minor. Ephesus became what Antioch was. a center of mission activity in the region of Asia. Chapter 19, verse 20 says about the word in Ephesus, so mightily grew the word of God and prevail. After three years at Ephesus, Paul traveled westward to Macedonia, to the cities of Troas, to the cities of Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea and Corinth. And then He retraced His steps through those cities in Macedonia again. And before traveling to Jerusalem, we find Him in our text stopping in Miletus and calling for the elders of Ephesus that He might see them one more time bid them farewell and give them last words of warning and comfort. Our text is part of those final words of farewell. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Beloved, I am not Paul, and you are not Ephesus. There are certainly differences, but I think you can hear and you can see similarities in the situation. Paul labored in Ephesus for three short years. I've labored among you for about four years. It has been a short time. And after laboring among you, I realize that there are yet dangers. There always will be on this earth to the church of Jesus Christ. There are days I wonder, having taken the call, if you are ready and if I am ready to leave. But like Paul, I leave convinced that I am bound by the Spirit to go, not to Jerusalem, but to Pittsburgh, not knowing what will hereafter befall us, befall you or befall me. But with much love and confidence, I commend you to God. Consider the meaning, then the means, and the hope. I speak very personally tonight, not only because of the occasion, but also because the text itself is very personal. You notice the personal pronouns. I, brethren, brothers and sisters in the family of God, my family, I commend you to God. The word commend itself reveals a very personal character of this passage. And we see that more as we delve into it. The word commend means consciously in one's mind to place another in the care of God. Consciously in one's mind to take of people that you love and place them in the care or in the hands of God. Literally, the word is to set before. That's the literal meaning of the Greek word, to set before. And so Paul is in his mind thinking about these Ephesian elders who are gathered there in Miletus by name. He's thinking about all the members of the church of Ephesus that these Ephesian elders represent. He's thinking of all of them by name. He's taking all of them with their names, with their specific personalities, with their strengths and their weaknesses. And he's saying, I take these people and I entrust them in my mind. I set them before the throne of God and before the feet of Jesus Christ. that he may take care of them, even though Paul himself can no longer be involved in their care. Members of Hope Church, I know you by name. I have fellowshiped with you. I have ministered to you. I've prayed for you by name. I have closer relationships to some of you than with others, and that is normal, according to God's providence. But I do love you all. And in my love for you, I think of you by name, and I will continue to do so. commending you, that is placing you, setting you in my mind before God and before my Savior Jesus Christ, trusting that He will take care of you, even though I no longer will be involved directly in your care. Paul does not only commend the Ephesians to God in his mind quietly, however, notice, that His commending is made public as I make it public this evening. It includes a verbal expression so that in the ears of the elders it is heard, I commend you to God. And thus, what Paul is doing, you see, is he is telling the elders his heart. He's saying, what is going on in my heart is that I'm sending you by name before God, before my Savior to care for you, even though I cannot. But he wants them to know it. He wants them to know his heart. And you must ask the question then, why does Paul want the Ephesians to know his heart? Why does Paul want those elders in particular to know that Paul is setting them in the church of Ephesus before God to care for them? Why does Paul want them to know that he is trusting that God will care for them? It's not to boast about his faith. And though yes, it's an expression of love, it's more than an expression of love. His main purpose has to be this. He wants those Ephesians to know his heart so that their hearts might be like his heart. He wants the trust that he has to be the trust that they have. He wants His expression of commending them to God to so affect them that they also entrust themselves to the Most High God and not to any man. I commend you, elders, Paul says, to God that you might trust Him and not me, as I trust Him and not myself. Brothers and sisters, I commend you to God. I tell you that. I consciously place you in the hands of the Almighty One and His everlasting arms. Let my trust expressed tonight be your trust. Beloved, you have always been in the hands of Almighty God. For more than 100 years, even though in pride at times you have thought you have held yourself up by yourself or by some other man's strength, it was not so. For 100 years, more than that, you have been in the Lord's hands. And He has always been faithful to you in the fruitful years and in the barren years. Other ministers have come and other ministers have gone. Multiple controversies have attacked this church and divided it. Enemies have always come against this church. And yet God has always been faithful. You have always been in His hands. And though God has used weak means, weak men, to care for you and for your preservation, God has never been dependent on a man. And so now, I call upon you, as I have done again and again, keep your eye looking upward, always up. to God and His Son, Jesus Christ, I commend you to Him who always has had you in His hands. My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I show you my heart that my trust might be your trust. These are not only Paul's last words to the Ephesians, but now you need to connect the word commend to the last words of someone more important than Paul. You remember his words, don't you? The last words, not of Paul, but of Christ. And this is how I bring you back to the cross, as I've always sought to do in my preaching. Remember Christ's words. The word commend is in His last words, Father, into Thy hands. I commend My Spirit, Luke 23, verse 46. There, the Son of God, as He died on the cross, expressed His trust in God the Father. I trust Thee, Father. that my soul will be in thy hands and thou will take care of my soul even at death. Hear those words, because those words and the confidence of those words, beloved, are the basis. They're the basis of your confidence, the basis of your certainty. It's why you can be so certain that you are in Father's hands. Children, listen to Christ's certainty. Listen to how sure Jesus is as he died on the cross. That his soul, even though it was going to be torn apart from his body at death, that his soul would not go to hell. That's what he's saying with those words, I commend my spirit into thy hands. His soul was not going to hell, but his soul would be going to the Father in heaven immediately upon death. And then you must ask, why was he so confident? How could he be if the load of guilt of all of his people was upon him? If the load of all of our sins was upon him and he deserved hell, how could he be so sure that he was not going to suffer hell due to the sins that were upon him after his death? And you know the answer? The gospel answer? Because Jesus Christ had already finished. It is finished, he said, before he said, into thy hands I commend my spirit. He had already finished suffering all the punishment of hell due to the sins, our sins, that were laid upon him. And he was sure then, because he knew he had finished, that there was no more godforsakenness left to endure. No more hell, no more wrath, only favor. Father, I commend my spirit into thy hands. He was so confident. That's the basis of your certainty and mine. Because if there was no more hell that Jesus had to suffer, no more wrath, no more God-forsakenness for him, And that's true for you, too, who are in Him. And so you can be as certain as Jesus, and I can be as certain as Jesus was, that there is no more God-forsakenness, and that He will never leave you nor forsake you, that you are in His hands and in His favor in Jesus Christ. He will certainly preserve. He will certainly protect and care for your soul. And know never, know never, know never forsake. Just as Jesus said, I commend my spirit into Father's hands. So I can say, and Jesus says to you tonight, With full confidence, I commend your souls into my Father's hands. Now not only let Paul's trust be your trust, and your pastor's trust your trust, but let Christ's trust be your trust. Today, Now, Paul says, notice in the text, now, it's a small word, but it's a very significant word. It's a powerful word. Now, brethren, I commend you to God. Now, meaning in the present circumstances, I commend you to God. And those present circumstances, beloved, were very fearful circumstances in that day and age of Paul. First of all, obviously, the people were facing a time without their pastor, Paul, who had ministered to them for three years. They would be without a preacher of the gospel for those three years. Paul had just spoken about that in the context, for three years he had labored with them. He had not ceased to warn them night and day. And now the elders were concerned, they were worried, because Paul had left them and was not coming back, it seemed. And Paul said, in that context, under those circumstances, while they were going to be without a pastor, I commend you to God with confidence. I put you in my Father's hands. Let my trust be your trust. Now, now. And beloved at Hope Church, you might think that maybe that was an exception, that Paul would leave this church without a pastor for some time. And that's not what he did with the other churches. Listen to Acts 14.23. Acts 14.23 on Paul's first missionary journey. Listen to what Paul did. After he had established new churches and new elders, We read this description of Paul, when they had ordained them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended, same word, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed. These young churches recently established with new elders, Paul left and did the same thing again and again. I commend you to God. Beloved, now, though I know you may be without a preacher, the gospel, the labors among your midst, in your midst regularly, you may be without one for some time. I commend you to God. I trust that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Now, perhaps the most fearful circumstance of the present was what Paul himself warned about in verses 29 and 30. Wolves. Wolves. Not only wolves coming from the outside in, but also wolves arising from the inside out. Before leaving the church, Paul speaks explicitly in verse 28, calling upon the elders to be overseers. Watch men on the walls of Zion. Take heed to yourselves. Yourselves first, elders. Yourselves first. Guard your hearts. And then to all the flock. And then gives this warning. For I know, I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. And also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Paul's word of commendation and of confidence to entrust them in the hands of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ, is not antithetical, is not opposed to a warning and a calling to watch for wolves. Paul's teachers of various kinds, they lie in wait, as they always did when Paul ministered to the Ephesians. They might be quiet right now, Paul says, but after my departure, I know, I know they will start howling and seeking to devour. Now elders, guard the flock because they have been purchased by the blood of God's own Son. And it's exactly because you elders cannot of your own strength watch the flock, that I commend you to Almighty God, the Bishop and Shepherd of your souls, who will strengthen you in that watching. Beloved, I speak personally You know, and I know, and God has taught us that there are real false teachers, not only in Paul's day, but today. And we are not immune to their attacks and to succumbing. to their attacks. I'm not calling you to be afraid. I'm calling you rather to have courage and to do due diligence. I'm not calling you to be suspicious of men and leaders. But I am calling you to be watching with discernment. There are wolves. There are dogs, as Paul said in Philippians 3. And I don't call anyone by name wolves or dogs, at least not yet. But I warn you that there are good men, even believing men, like the respected Simon Peter, who may seek to bring forth their own agenda and to be used by Satan then to tempt you to depart out of the right way of godliness or to go back to doctrinal errors. I have heard in our denomination grumblings, perhaps they are growlings, of those who want to use works and put them in the wrong place. And I call you, I call you, beloved, not to succumb to it. I have also heard those who would take the gospel of grace and twist it to preach and to excuse a life of worldliness. A life of worldliness that they not only plunge themselves into, but lead others into with willful antinomian and penitent sin. I warn you. Beware. Watch. Now. And as you do, I commend you to God. He will care for you. He will equip your elders to be faithful and courageous. In his providence, he will expose those who may be wolves He will bring to repentance those peters. He will silence the captives. He will protect his lambs. In the comfort of God's people, I commend you now to God. The means which God uses to care for his church is summed up in our text as the word of his grace. Now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. The Word, beloved, you know, is the means of faith, that which God uses to give and to strengthen faith. Romans 10, verse 17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The Word of grace, which Paul speaks of here, is particularly the preaching of that Word. A Word that's in the Scriptures, but the Ephesians themselves probably didn't have too much of the Scriptures written down They heard the preaching of that word from Paul, and that word would be repeated, that which Paul preached would be repeated to them. That word, notice, is connected to the word God by a very significant word, and. Don't miss that, and, the conjunction and, verse 32. I commend you to God and to the word of His grace. That word and is a conjunction which ties or binds God to his word. Can God work without his word? Yes. Is God able to work without his word? Yes. He can do anything that he wants. But the point of the and in this passage is this, God works with His Word. He binds Himself to His Word. He ties Himself to His Word. That's the significance of the word and. I commend you to God, Paul says, knowing this, to God and to His Word, because that is the means that God uses. for the giving and the strengthening of faith and the building up of His church. There's some commentators who understand the word word here to be Christ Himself personally. I don't disagree strongly with that. There's an orthodox explanation of that. But the context proves to us that the word of grace is not Christ personally, but the preaching of the word that is about Christ and through which Christ speaks. Context shows that Paul is describing his ministry in the verses preceding it. And in verse 24 in particular, we find a similar phrase, which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel or the word of the grace of God. Paul is referring to the word that he's preached, the gospel of the grace of God. And there you understand that when it speaks of the word of grace, it's the word about the grace, primarily. About the precious grace of God in Jesus Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek, Romans 1.16. I commend you, Paul says, to God, and to the means that He ties Himself to, the Word. of grace. Through my ministry here, beloved, I have sought to explain to you an important distinction between the law and the gospel. To distinguish them, but never, ever, ever to separate them. The word of God that the text speaks of does include the law, the commands of God. Thou shalt and thou shalt not. And we are called, we must obey that word, that law. And we are like the psalmist to love the law of God. And there are many practical applications with that word, that law, as it must be strictly preached. You heard some of that this morning. God uses that law to humble us. God uses that law to bring us to repentance. He does. But that law, that word of God is distinct, not separate, but distinct from that which the text calls the word of grace, which is the gospel. The word of grace. The law by itself has no remedy, the canon says. The law that thou shalt not, can impart no strength to extricate man from his misery. Man needs not just the law, but he needs again and again, always with the law, the gospel. The word of grace. The word of grace being Jesus. The word of grace being that God in His love for His elect people has sent Jesus Christ to obey that law for our salvation and to suffer and die for our salvation. So that there is no more obedience that you have to do in order to earn your salvation. And there is no more suffering in this life that you must endure as payment for your sin. But all has been paid for by Jesus Christ alone. And before you do good works, and I exhort you to do good works, but before you do good works, you may by faith alone, know with assurance, with certainty, by faith alone in Jesus alone, that you are righteous before God. only of His grace, and only for the sake of Christ's merits. That's the word of grace. That's the tremendous word of power that comforts your soul. That's the word that enables you to go forth and live in thankfulness. That's the word of grace in this text. That includes that when He works that faith in your heart, so that you receive Christ and all of his benefits, blessings of salvation. He will sanctify you. And it will work in you. So you can. And you do good works. Do you hear the word of grace, beloved? Do not despise that word of grace. Do not be bored by that word of grace. Do not accuse that word of grace as promoting ungodliness and carelessness and profanity. Do not add to that word of grace some contribution of men for grace, for then grace would be no more grace. God works powerfully with this word of grace that I've sought to preach. I've impressed upon you what that word of grace is. You know what it sounds like. You know what it tastes like. You know how powerful it is. You know the errors, for I have not ceased day and night to warn you of them. And now I commend you to God and to his word of grace. That word of grace, Paul says, is able. The verb there, able, is dunamai, where we derive the word dynamite. God, with his word of grace, is explosive in the negative sense to exceedingly dangerous to all the wolves and all the enemies that will oppose him and his church. That word will harden them, will drive them away, will bring explosions of anger and expose self-righteousness. But as you know, that word of grace will also humble hearts, so that the proudest and most self-righteous of us will be broken like that begging publican, be merciful to me, to me, the sinner. The word of grace, beloved, that I am growing to know The Word of Grace that I have been growing to know as I have been seeking to help you in growing to know. That Word of Grace is that which God has used to work among you. It's not me. Listen to Martin Luther when he spoke about that Word of Grace. I simply taught preached and wrote God's Word. Otherwise, I did nothing. And while I slept or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends, Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing. The Word did everything. Beloved, I commend you to God and to his word of grace. With his word of grace, new courage gave to me and will give to you and sustain you and preserve you all the days of your life. He has already. And so I know he will. And that points us to a very significant part of this text, that this word of grace is not only powerful at the moment of its preaching, but that word of grace continues even after the preaching to be a power in the hearts of his people. Remember the context. Paul, the preacher of this word of grace, is leaving the Ephesians. And he still says, even as he is departing, as the preacher of that word of grace, I commend you to God and the word of his grace. And the elders of Ephesus might have responded, Paul, Paul, we're not gonna have you to preach that word of grace anymore. And Paul would have said, it doesn't matter. That word of grace is in your heart. That word of grace dwells richly in your souls. The spirit of God will bring to your remembrance all that you have been taught. You will continue to have that word of grace. It will come forth from other preachers and you will have it sounding in your ears by His Spirit. Paul was going to die Preachers come and go, but the word of God continues forever. The grass withereth, Isaiah 40, verse 8. The flower faded, but the word of our God shall stand forever. That word of grace has taken root in your hearts. As I said, you know what it sounds like. You know what it tastes like. It dwells within you, it will never die. And therefore, with confidence, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which will continue to work powerfully even after my preaching. And what will the word of grace do? What will God with that word do? What is your hope? The answer that you would expect is that God will preserve. He will preserve you, His people, all the way to glory. That's indeed what the text says, to give you an inheritance. That's the hope of glory. Give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. You who have been purchased by Christ's precious blood. You who are in the hands of Almighty God the Father. None can pluck you out of His hands. So mighty is God with His word. You can be sure of it. Ashur, remember, as Christ's soul is in his father's hands, not to go to hell. You will be preserved unto the end. The inheritance shall be yours in the new heavens and the new earth. God will be with you and we will meet again. Even if I be at heaven's gate, that is sure. And secondly, this is part of your hope. Not only will he preserve you unto the end, but he will sanctify you unto the end. Progressive sanctification, to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. That's what God is doing with his word of grace. He doesn't take you in a train cart while you're passive all the way to heaven. But he works in you to sanctify those whom he has justified. To shape you and form you. to the image of Jesus Christ, to make you holy, and to the end. Some imagine that they may live willfully impenitent in sin, and while living impenitently in sin, expect heaven. And the text says no. Those whom He justifies and will glorify are also those that He sanctifies before. He glorifies those which are sanctified. The passive voice there, telling you and me, not that you will be passive, but the passive voice informing you, that Christ, in whose hands you are, with the word of grace, will sanctify you. Which brings us to the last word we have not covered in the text, the most powerful word. This is what God with the word of grace will do. This is your hope. Not only will he preserve you to the end and sanctify you unto the end, but this, he will build you up. As a church, he will build you up. Let that sink in. Paul leaves the church of Ephesus, and he's confident that even in his absence, God will build his church. I address a wrong mindset that you might be having already now. The wrong mindset of elders and members of churches that are vacant and without a minister is this. We just have to survive until the next minister comes. We just need to maintain and keep what we have. We don't have to think about growing and increasing, we just have to Survive that's a wrong mindset and God shows that to us in this text He is able with his word and by his spirit not only to keep you Not only to maintain you but he says to build you up to grow you spiritually to increase you To bring more members into your church through evangelism and God will empower you as He did His people in Nehemiah's day to defend and to build His church with both sword and trowel. Vacancy, beloved, is not a time of stagnancy, is not a time of merely waiting, but it is a time of building, of reforming. And I call you to this, but I also commend you to God with a certainty of hope that He will not only preserve and sanctify, but build His church with His word. And now I go, bound by the Spirit, exhorting you Let your conversation be, your whole behavior be, as becometh the gospel of Christ. That whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs. Let each stand fast in one spirit and with one mind. striving together for the faith of the gospel. Philippians 1, verse 27. My Philippi, now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up. and give you an inheritance among them which are sanctified. Amen. Let's pray. O God, Almighty, Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and father of this family, thy church. Into thy everlasting arms, we commend ourselves, consciously trusting in thee, our God, who will preserve and sanctify and build up thy church with weak means of men, but also in spite of men. May Thy word of grace, new courage, give and strengthen us for the glory of Thy name, in the name of Jesus Christ, which is above every name. Amen.