Sunday, April 24 - Paul's Farewell
2022-04-24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7dDg25YBBw

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Worship leader. He's ready for it. Yeah. All right. Good morning. We're going to get started. He's our translator.

All right. We're going to be reading together out of Psalm 100. Martin Luther wrote this about that psalm. The 100th psalm is a prophecy of Christ to the entire world, to be joyful, to praise, and give thanks, that is to worship God and come to his throne and his courts, and to call on him with all confidence, an eternal kingdom, which truly remains forever and ever. So we're going to go ahead and stand, and we're going to read this psalm together, and hopefully we're able to do what Martin Luther says, have joy, praise, give thanks, and worship God as we come to him and call on him and worship him together. And we're going to do the whole psalm, and we're going to start with verse 1. It says, "Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth.

Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name. For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. God, we thank you for the opportunity to gather here today and to worship you and to celebrate you and to find joy even in the midst of hardships and trials that we can come together and be encouraged as we glorify you. Thank you. We would thank you for those that are watching online and the encouragement they also are to us.

And we ask that you be with our service today. Be with Brandon as he brings the sermon and just allow everything we do here today to glorify you. In Jesus name. Amen. All right. So we're going to get started today by singing "The Battle Belongs."

When all I see is the battle, you see my victory. When all I see is the mountain, you see a mountain moved. And as I walk through the shadow, your love surrounds me. There's nothing to fear now, for I'm safe with you. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And if you are for me, who can be against me? For Jesus, there's nothing impossible for you. When all I see are the ashes, you see the beauty. And if you are for me, who can be against me? For Jesus, there's nothing impossible for you. When all I see are the ashes, you see the beauty.

When all I see is a cross, God, you see the empty tomb. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And every fear I lay at you. Lay at your feet. I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Almighty fortress, you go before us. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. You shine in the shadow. You win every battle. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. Almighty fortress, you go before us. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. You shine in the shadow. You win every battle. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Every field I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Oh God, the battle belongs to you.

And then we will be muted here, but there will be a video playing during our time here. And so once we're done, we'll come back and we'll continue on the rest of our service. And also, just a reminder, we have journals and pens in the back if you'd like to get one for a prayer journal, just to write down what people are asking for prayer for here, just as an encouragement and a reminder for the week of how we can pray for one another. All right, we're going to sing "Glorious Day." Maybe, maybe not. It's not going to work. There we go. I was buried beneath my shame Who could carry that kind of weight It was my turn till I met you I was breathing but not alive all my failures I tried to hide

it was my turn till I met you you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day

now your mercy has saved my soul now your freedom is all that I know the old day knew Jesus when I met you you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and I ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day I need your rescue my sin was heavy chains break at the weight of your glory I needed shelter I was an orphan now you call me a citizen of heaven when I was broken you were my healing now your love is the air that I'm breathing I have a future my eyes are open cause when you called my name I ran out of the grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name I ran out of that grave out of the darkness to your glorious day you Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.

Okay. Thanks, Russell. And we're going to be moving into our time of communion and singing together, "Never Once." Standing on this mountaintop, looking just how far we'd come, knowing that for every step you were with us. Kneeling on this battleground, seeing just how much you've done, knowing every victory, it's your power in us. Scars and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can't save. Yes, our hearts can save. Never once did you leave us on our own. You are faithful, God, you are faithful. Kneeling on this battleground, seeing just how much you've done, knowing every victory, it's your power in us. Stroubles all known, but with joy our hearts can say, yes, our hearts can say. Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave us on our own. You are faithful,

God, you are faithful. You are faithful. God, you are faithful. Skies and struggles on the way, but with joy our hearts can say. Never once did we ever walk alone. Carried by your constant race, in your perfect peace. Never once, though we never walk alone. Never once did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave us on our own. You are faithful. Every step we are breathing in your grace. Evermore we'll be breathing out your praise. You are faithful, God. You are faithful. You are faithful, God. You are faithful. You are faithful, God. You are faithful. You are faithful, God. You are faithful. One of the things that has helped me frequently when it comes to prayer is looking at how God's people pray throughout Scripture and to see their prayers and hear their prayers.

The 20th chapter. Jehoshaphat is king of Israel, and he has a massive army composed of several nations heading toward Jerusalem. And most of us in that situation, maybe we would look for a diplomatic solution, or we would try to come up with some allies, or we would prepare for a siege. We would spring into some sort of action. In a very instructional way for us, is he gathers God's people together for worship, and he prays. And I just want to share just the end of his prayer in 2 Chronicles 20:12. It just simply says this:

"We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you." And it's that last phrase that I think has been most helpful for me, where he just simply says, "Look, there is this giant army. They're big. We're small. We're aware of the greatness of our problems and the smallness of our strength. And so here's the thing: We don't know what we're going to do, but we are going to fix our eyes on you." And as Christians, we hear that and we say that is a wonderful sentiment, but the problem is it's difficult for us to do, right? Because sometimes we fix our eyes on our struggles or our needs or our wants, and I think probably most frequently of all, we fix our eyes on ourself. And for us, it is a constant struggle to put our eyes onto God. In fact, you see it throughout Scripture. In the book of Judges, God's people saved by God time and time again, and over time they would drift away

and their eyes would fix on something else, and they would essentially run from God. The book of Hebrews, time and time again, we'll say, make sure that we are paying much closer attention, that we do not drift away. In fact, chapter 12 begins with fixing our eyes on Jesus. And so for us, this idea of putting our eyes onto the salvation of our God is an ongoing battle and an ongoing fight for us as Christians. One of the ways in which we fight in this battle of distraction and worry and struggle is to fix our eyes on the grace of God by gathering together around this table. By breaking this little piece of bread and by drinking this cup to remind ourselves and to see the goodness of God in how he does save, and how he loves, and how he helps us, and how he strengthens us, and how he promises us a future. So what I want to encourage us to do this morning

as we partake, I'm going to read from Matthew here in just a moment, but I want to encourage us to use this time to fix our eyes on Jesus. So I'm going to pray, and then we'll read together and partake. Father in heaven, in a world filled with distractions and busyness and worry and fear and anxiety and struggle, I just ask that you would help us to set those things aside, not just in this moment, but as we leave, and as we go through the activities of this week, that we would continually keep our eyes on you, that we would focus on your grace, your goodness, the good news that your son came and died in our place for us, and as he rose again and is victorious over all of our enemies, that we would live out the hope that is promised and realized at the cross.

So be with us as we partake this morning. Strengthen us, nourish us, and help us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So Jesus, as Matthew recounts the Passover that he celebrates with his disciples, he'll say, "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat. This is my body." And then he had took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." This morning's reading is from Acts 20, and one of the very cool and exciting incidences of the timing of this message that Brandon is going to preach on these verses is we have just gone through Easter, and Jesus has gone into Jerusalem. He has been tried and murdered, and then he has risen again from the dead. And one of the people that would have been around on the opposite team of what we would call Christians was Paul.

Every time we see him in Acts, he's approving of the death of one of the first Christian martyrs. And in this passage, we see Paul going to Jerusalem with funds from the International Church that he helped found and spread. And it's quite an extraordinary irony that that journey to Jerusalem will lead him to one of the most powerful people in the ancient world. And it says in verse 17, "Now from Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them, 'You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit,

knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and affliction await me. But I do not count my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see me again. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not

cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. And now I command you to God and to the word of his grace, which he is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I covered no one, I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands minister to my necessities and to those who are with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak and remember the work of the Lord Jesus. How he himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." And when Paul had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all that embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied Paul to the ship. This is the word of the Lord.

All right, let's pray and dive right into it this morning. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this account of Paul's journey to Jerusalem. Thank you for how we see the gospel transforms from the one who sought to destroy your church to one who sought to protect it and to build it up and help us to see that the gospel changes us. And this morning I ask that you would, in the midst of the uncertainty of life and the struggles that all of us face, I just ask that you would encourage us and help us, encourage us with Paul's encouragement to the Ephesian elders and to the Ephesian church and help us to see your goodness this morning. It is in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen. So one of the things that kind of came as a surprise to me about having children was the amount of stuff that you have to have when you travel somewhere. So a few years ago we were going camping, and so we got all the main camping stuff loaded into the car, and then we got the, you know, the kind of the daily needs stuff so we could

added the food and all the kids' clothes, and it's like, well, looks like we have a choice. We can take the stuff, or we can take the children. And that was before the children even came out with all of their worldly possessions in the backpack that they had to take camping. And it was just overwhelming, the amount of things that had to fit into our car. In fact, Rachel was just like, "Let me do it," because I was getting grumpy and frustrated, and to be honest, she is far better. She must be a better Tetris car. And getting everything to fit into the car in a proper manner. But we got it all in. And when I come to this text this morning, this lengthy passage, all sort of one speech by Paul. In fact, it's his sort of last major speech that is not a defense before a political authority in the book of Acts. In this speech, there is so much stuffed into here.

It kind of reminds me of that car where you're trying to fit everything that you're ever going to need into that car so you have all of the future situations covered. And what Paul is doing as he says goodbye to the Ephesian elders and, by extension, to the Ephesian church, is he's trying to cram everything into these last few words. So when we have our last words, we try to give them sort of that greatest weight, the most important part. So there's a lot happening in these verses, and that can cause us, I think, to struggle with this text. And so I want to share with you before we dive into the verse we're going to take a look at this morning, some of the struggles that we sort of have when we come to texts like this.

And the first struggle is, and you may or may not feel this way. I've heard people say this. I've read people who say this. They hear Paul's words, and they immediately assume that Paul is sort of patting himself on the back and just being a little proud of what he's accomplished. In fact, listen to these verses, these three verses beginning in verse 19, where he says, "You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials. And what happened to me through the plots of the Jews? How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and in house to house, testifying to both Jews and the Greeks of repentance toward God and our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."

So think about if we heard somebody maybe say something similar like that today, where they say, "Well, you know how humble I really am." And we would say, "Most humble people don't brag about their humility." You know, it's the old song, you know, "It's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way." You know, "I look in the mirror, I get better looking each day." And it can seem on the surface that Paul is sort of, as he unpacks his history with the Ephesian church, he's sort of saying, "You all remember how great of a job I did while I was with you for those three years." And so when he shares about his ministry, there can get a sense that he's maybe being a little bit proud. And not the pride where we have that warm feeling and we've accomplished something and we're joyful over it,

but rather that pride that says, "Kind of, look at me." And that's not what Paul is doing in this text. He's not sort of patting himself on the back for the Ephesian elders. And to understand sort of what Paul is doing when he recounts his history, you have to understand a little bit of what is going on in Ephesus, right? He's seeking to accomplish these words. These are Paul's last direct words to people from this church, and each of the words in this text has a purpose. And one of the purposes of these words is to defend his ministry from false teachers. What you find is this whole region that Paul has been traveling through for the past several years, there has been conflict after conflict. In fact, he alludes to it in verse 19

where he talks about the plots of the Jews. He'll talk about it in Ephesians chapter 5, a letter that he writes at a later date to the church about how there are false teachers coming in, singing to sort of tear people in the church away. Jesus himself in Revelation, the second chapter, will say this, "I know your work, your toil, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them false." So even like 50 years later, the church is still struggling with those who would come into the church and try to distract and pull them away. And what Paul is doing, in fact, he's going to warn them very specifically about these ravenous wolves in a minute, but what he's doing here is he's setting a foundation.

Because what happens, and we see this all the time today, that if you can't attack somebody's message, what do you do? You attack the character of the person. And you say, "Don't listen to their message because their character is terrible." And in fact, that's what many of Paul's opponents would do. Finally, they couldn't stand up to Paul's message. They would seek to attack Paul's character. So for example, in 1 Thessalonians, the second chapter, he has to devote an entire chapter to defending his character, where people say, "Paul came to do this for power. He came to do it for greed. He came to steal the money from the church." And so what Paul is doing here, as he talks about how he ministered in Ephesus, he's saying, "Let my character that you saw and you encountered for three years be the credentialing of my message."

May it be the confirmation. You remember how I didn't come proudly, how I didn't take money, how I served, how I wept over the church, how I went to both Jews and Greeks. He's not patting himself on the back, but he's answering these false accusations from people outside the church seeking to discredit Paul. He's saying to them, "Evaluate my message in the light of my actions." Paul, in doing this, is also directing the church to the strength underneath his actions. In verse 20, he'll say, "But I do not account my life of any value or as precious to me, only that I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of grace." And Paul says, "At the end of the day, it's not about me,

it's not about my life, it's not about my accomplishments, it's about the grace of Jesus." In 1 Corinthians 15, he'll say it this way, "By the grace of God, I am what I am, and of His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them." And then look what he says, "Not I, but the grace of God that was with me." And he'll say, "I worked so hard, but it wasn't about me. It was God who was at work to encourage, to strengthen, and to help me." And so Paul is defending his ministry. He's pointing them to the grace of God that underlies his ministry, that allowed him to work, and to struggle, and to suffer, and to have grace. He's also giving them a visible example of what it means to live as a Christian. In verse 35, he'll say this,

"In all these things I have shown you, that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said it is more blessed to give than to receive." And Paul says, "I also wanted to serve as an example to you." So that when you're struggling in the church, you're saying, "How do we deal with, for example, in this case, possessions and the needs of the church?" He says, "Look at how I lived." That sometimes you and I, we work better and we learn better with an example than we learn by somebody simply giving us words. The second struggle I think we have with this text is that it can be hard for us to connect with it. And I don't think this is a problem with the text,

but rather a problem with ourselves, right? We have a tendency when we approach places in Scripture like this to view it as a textbook rather than what it really is, which is this emotionally laden account with Paul and a church that loves him and he loves them. And what you find is that this is a deeply emotional and powerful message that he is bringing. You see, goodbyes can be difficult, right? We struggle with goodbyes now, right? We have to say goodbye to someone just temporarily. I think about it every time our kids and their friends leave, and it doesn't matter that maybe they live right down the street or we see them like every other day, there's still oftentimes a sadness in that goodbye. And Paul's goodbye here is not a small goodbye. What has he said to them? He said, "You're never going to see

my face again." These words are carrying with them a depth of emotion. Listen to what it says in verse 37. "And there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him." Being sorrowful, most of all, because of the word they had spoken, they would not see his face again, and they accompanied him to the ship. And so sometimes we struggle with Paul's words. Sometimes we connect emotionally with this text. Sometimes we struggle to see how it applies to us, because we might say, "Well, I'm not an Ephesian. I'm not an elder in the church." What do Paul's words have to say to us? What we'll see is that they are rich in hope and guidance for the entire church. The third thing that I think is a little overwhelming about this text

is the massive amount of information that is contained within. So what he's going to do, first of all, Paul's going to take the three years of his ministry and summarize it in like two verses. He's going to talk about how he ministered, right? He ministered with humility, with tears, with trials, with not shrinking back. He's going to talk about what he ministered, right? "I declared, I taught, I testified to Jews and Gentiles and big groups and small groups." He's going to speak about the future, what God has in store for him. And not only what's in store for him, but that it's suffering and how he trusts God even though he doesn't necessarily know how it's going to end. His hope is in God. Paul is going to give instruction to the church. They need to pay attention, to be alert, to help the weak.

And Paul is going to help us see how God sees the church. Listen to verse 28. "Take careful attention to yourselves and to the flock, which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood." And what Paul says is, "Remember, this church is God's church, and that it's deeply valuable to him." So what I want to do this morning is we have all of these different things. We have Paul summarizing his ministry. We have our struggles maybe to connect or to understand this text. And what I want to do is I want to focus just on one verse, rather than trying to overwhelm us with the massive amount of things that are present here in verse 32, in the midst of sort of strengthening and preparing these words.

"Now 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 who are sanctified." Now remember when Paul says these words, he is speaking to a church, and to the leaders of this church that have experienced a deep emotional shock. Paul has called them to come meet his ship. They've journeyed something like 20, 25 miles to be there. They get there. Paul recounts his ministry, sort of preparing them for the attacks that will come in the future. And then he says something really strange. I'm going to Jerusalem. God's told me. He doesn't tell me how it's going to end, but none of you will ever see my face again. And that has to hit like a bomb with these people who deeply love Paul. I'm going to go. I'm going to suffer. The Holy Spirit told me

there's going to be all these afflictions. You're never going to see my face again. And they're seeing and they're experiencing sadness. And there's going to be some uncertainty, right? Because Paul has been with this church for three years, right? He's helped them in their troubles. He's probably taught most of these people. He's discipled them. He's helped them. And all of a sudden, Paul's going and he's just not coming back. You have to feel this deep sense of law. And then Paul says these wonderful things. First of all, he says that the church is safe in the hands of God. That's what he means and he says, "I commend you to God and to the word of his grace." Now, Paul isn't saying, "I'm turning the church over to God," because Paul has already said the church belongs to God, but he's reminding them

that they are in the hands of God, right? Because the church feels like they're all alone. And we've probably experienced that where you've tried to do something new on your own for the very first time. I remember the very first time that I went to preach at a church, like for real, right? We had preaching classes. I preached a sermon at my home church. But that's not, when you're young, it's different than preaching in front of a bunch of strangers who don't know you. And the Dean of Students came and said, "Hey, I got a church for you to preach at this Sunday." And I said, "No, thank you." And he's like, "Well, I'm the Dean of Students. Go preach at it." And I remember sitting there in the parking lot going, "Oh, there's like really no

safety net here," right? Because at your home church, you can like tag in your preacher from when you're a kid, right? If you get in trouble, everybody understands. In class, it's designed to learn from you. And here are all by yourself out there, and it's all on your shoulders. And this is how the Ephesian church has to feel, right? Paul is leading, and it's going to be all on our shoulders. And so Paul reminds them that they are in the hands of God. And it's interesting. This word that he used, "I commend you to God," has sort of two meanings. One of them is a physical meaning. It literally means to put a plate down in front of somebody at dinner. So when you're serving dinner, or you're eating at a restaurant, the guy comes out and says,

"Who had the steak?" You're like, "I do," and he puts it down right in front of you. That's the literal meaning of this text. The sort of metaphorical or symbolic meaning is that you are taken care of by somebody in a deeply close and personal way. And so Paul says to this church that it feels like they're losing their rock, that you belong to God, and not just in sort of an intellectual way, but you're right there in front of him. That he's holding on to you, and he will not let you go. In Revelation chapter 1, there is a picture that I would share to you to sort of help you visualize what's happening here in Acts chapter 20. And so in Revelation chapter 1, John is in exile on the Isle of Patmos. It's almost the end of the first century.

He's an old man. He's been tortured. He's now by himself, and he's praying, and he hears a voice. He turns around. There's Jesus, and he falls in his face because he can't believe it's Jesus, and he's terrified. And Jesus comes and touches him and says, "Don't be afraid, John." And then John describes what he sees. I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands was one like a Son of Man, clothed in a long robe with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were a flame of fire, his feet were burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. His voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars.

And from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining at full strength. And so you have this picture of Jesus, and glory, and power, and purity, and strength. But what I want you to focus on are those seven golden lampstands and those seven stars. And Revelation will tell us what it means. As for the mystery in verse 20 of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels or the messengers of the seven churches. And the seven lampstands are the seven churches. And you see the picture of Jesus that is painted in all of his power, in his strength, and in the power to defend the church with the sword of his word, and the purity of his hair,

and the eyes that see everything like fire, the voice that drowns out everything. What is he doing? He's walking amongst his churches. These lampstands, and Jesus is walking through them, caring for these lampstands, picturing these lampstands, and in his hand he holds the messengers of the church. The picture here is that Jesus is not distant from his church. He's not distant from the church in Ephesus. He's not distant from this little church in Winchester. And when Paul says this to the church in Acts chapter 20, he says, "I commend you to God and to the word of his grace," he's reminding this church that God is not distant and he holds you close. The second thing he's going to say is that God is at work in the church. As he talks about the word of his grace and how we are belt up by the word of his grace,

it's a picture that is throughout Scripture in Matthew chapter 16. Remember when Peter makes the good confession that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus says, "You are Peter," instead of Peter's nickname, "You're Rocky, and upon this rock I will build my church." He's not saying I'm going to build the church upon Peter, but rather what Peter has just said, that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Jesus says, "The foundation of the church is the truth of who I am, and I will build it." In Ephesians, Paul will remind the church that we are built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. And so the picture here is that the church is not abandoned, right? First of all, God holds the church close, and he is near to the church,

but he's working on the church to build it and to strengthen it. And the way that he does it, according to Paul in Acts 20:32, is through the word of his grace, that God, through his word, builds and strengthens our church. He builds and strengthens our life. One of my favorite preachers, John Piper, says this about this. He says, "Paul says the word of grace is a builder. It builds a useful structure out of a life of ruins. It builds design out of a life of confusion. It builds security out of fear and anxiety. It builds strength out of weakness. It builds permanence and stability out of a wavering uncertainty. It builds beauty out of ugliness. The word of grace is a master builder, and it's called the word of grace because it always builds with the lousy raw materials in our life."

You see, God's at work to build. It's easy to feel small and underpowered, but here is God building his church. The third thing he talks about is this inheritance that is laid out for those who are sanctified, set apart, holy. And what he's saying to the church is that through the power and strength of God there is hope for the future, right? You are close. God is building, and he does not abandon you. He takes you all the way to heaven, right? That's the picture of the inheritance throughout Scripture. Peter will talk about this inheritance, and he'll say it this way: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be revealed at the last time." Peter will give us some characteristics of this inheritance that are so helpful to us. First of all, he says they're imperishable, right? It means they don't go bad, right? And if you've ever bought groceries, especially, you know, fresh meat or milk, right, they have that date on there, and with the milk, you know, it's kind of a-- you're rolling the dice, right? Sometimes that date means it's okay, sometimes a couple days past it's okay, sometimes a couple days before it, right, you open that lid and you're like, "Nope, we're done with this gallon of milk," right? It goes bad. And what Paul says is the inheritance you and I have in God,

this future hope, never goes bad. The second thing that he will talk about is that it is undefiled or unstained, right? It doesn't get dirty. It doesn't sort of have problems along the way. It doesn't get a little moldy. You kind of cut the mold off, right? It stays perfect the entire way. And he will say this: "And unfading," right? It doesn't get less strong. It doesn't wear out. It doesn't disappear. And what you find is he says these wonderful things, right? It doesn't go bad. It doesn't get contaminated. It doesn't fade away. And he'll say this: "Who," it's for you, "who by God's power are being guarded," right? It's all great, this wonderful inheritance, but what happens if I can't hold on to it? What happens if I can't do it? And Peter will say, "You don't do it.

God is the one who guards you. God is the one who holds on to you. God is your strength, and he is the one who will keep you." And Paul, as he speaks to this grieving, uncertain church, what he says is this. First of all, God holds on to you, right? He's the one who holds you close. God is working on you to build you. And that God doesn't just start a work, but he finishes it. He's not just there at the beginning, but he takes you all the way to eternity, right? God doesn't just save you. He safely brings you home. Let's pray. Father, we live in a world that feels broken, because it is broken. We see sin, and we see hurt, and we see struggle around us, and we look at the task that is ahead of us, and we feel like we're too small and the task is too big.

Help us hear the words of Paul that come from your spirit, that you hold on to your church, that you build your church, and you safely bring us home. Encourage us this morning. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand and sing "In Christ Alone."

In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground. Firm through the fiercest drowning storm. What heights of love? What depths of peace? When fears are still, when strivings cease. My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand. In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helplessness. God in helpless faith, this gift of love and righteousness, was scorned by the ones He came to save. Till on that cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. Every sin on Him was laid. Here in the death of Christ I live. There in the ground His body laid. Light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day. Upon the grave He rose again. And as He stands in victory. Sin's curse has lost its grip on me. For I am His and He is mine. Brought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life. No fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath. Jesus commends my destiny. No power of hell. No scheme of man. Can ever pluck me from his hand. Till he returns. Or calls me home. Here in the power of Christ I'll stand. No power of hell. No scheme of man. Can ever pluck me from his hand. Till he returns. Or calls me home. Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

I want to thank you all for being here with us. Whether you're here in person or online, we are very thankful for you. We will be back here Wednesday night, continuing with our Wednesday night Bible study. And another, just a quick reminder, next Sunday we begin the month of May, and the Sunday after that, so two weeks is Mother's Day, so now's the chance to prepare for Mother's Day in the next couple weeks. I'm going to go ahead and have a word of prayer, and then I'll read, just share a verse with you, and then we will sing the doxology. Father in heaven, thank you for your church. Thank you for your people. Thank you for your grace. Help us as we move into a broken and hurting world that we would exhibit the good news of the gospel, that we would share hope with the hopeless. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

I'm just going to close with the words that we talked about this morning from the Apostle Paul, where he says this to the Ephesian church, "Now 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 those who are sanctified."

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.