The substance is of Christ

We're going to read the second chapter of Colossians in your hearing this morning, but before we do,

I want to make a statement that this great privilege and honor that we have to preach the

Word of God is beyond us, and I'm reminded of something that Charles Spurgeon said.

He said, unless the Holy Ghost blesses the Word, we who preach the

Gospel are of all men most miserable, for we have attempted a task that is impossible.

He said we entered upon a sphere where nothing but the supernatural will ever avail, and if the

Holy Spirit does not renew the hearts of men, of our hearers, we cannot do it. And if the

Holy Ghost does not regenerate them, we cannot. If the

Holy Spirit does not send the truth home into your souls today, Spurgeon said we might as well be speaking into the ear of a corpse.

So before we read the text, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, I need your help.

I need the knowledge of the Most High. I need the wisdom of God to preach today.

And God, the men and the women, the boys and the girls that are in this place today, whether they realize it or not, need you.

No doubt today, God, there are those who are alive in Christ who are worshiping you in spirit and in truth this morning, and no doubt there are those who need to be born again.

And Lord, we know that this is your work that you do, and we trust that you are both willing and able.

And we have confidence, according to your word, that your arm is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor your ear heavy, that it cannot hear.

And we have confidence this morning in you that your word will not go out void, but will accomplish the purpose that you send it to.

So I thank you for hope. I thank you for joy in the

Holy Spirit today, and I ask you to give life to the dead hearts, to give hearing to the deaf ears, to give sight to the blind eyes, to give life to those who are dead in their trespasses and in their sins, the forgiveness of sins, and the hope of eternal life.

Through your Spirit, for the glorification of your only

Son, Jesus Christ, I ask this in His name unto you,

Heavenly Father, for it is in Jesus' name I pray, amen and amen.

In John's Gospel, the 15th chapter, it was on that last slide of the song,

The Love of God. Greater love has no man than this, than that a man would lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus was speaking unto His disciples, and He said, You are my friends. If you do whatsoever,

I command you. Many people assume that an invitation is given at the end of a service, but in truth, in the hearing of God's word, the invitation, in the preaching of God's word, the invitation goes out consistently throughout.

We do not have to have necessarily verses of a song sung for you to come to Christ, for I encourage you and I plead with you today that if the

Spirit of God speaks to your heart, run to Jesus. He is where you are.

The Scripture says, Behold, today is the day of salvation.

The book of Colossians chapter 2 and verse 1, the Scripture says this,

For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and for those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the

Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Now this I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.

For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Beware, lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power.

In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements or ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Having disarmed principalities and powers, he made public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

So let no one judge you in food or drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

Therefore, or having said what he said, therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations such as do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all concern things which perish with the using, according to the commandments and doctrines of men?

These things have an appearance of wisdom in self -imposed religion, in false humility and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

For months now, as week after week you seemingly hear this repeated, the context, the reason why this letter was written to the church at Colossae and to be read to the church in Laodicea was because of some false teaching that had crept in because folks were leaning to their ascetic practices, their legalism, for a standard of righteousness.

They were mediating their worship through angels, by worshiping angels, hoping that cosmic powers might be placated or pleased or sued or propitiated by their lifting up of these angels.

My friends, today, after having heard this, we all know where we're from.

You all know what I say when I say you hear that. Having heard that and reading this second chapter, it ought to just like a great picture if it has been out of focus up to this point, ought to just zoom right into focus.

The apostle Paul addresses these issues and he points them, as he always does, to the person of Jesus Christ.

So what is the theme of the message today? It is this, again straight from the text, right in the middle, about in the middle of that entire text of scripture that we read to you.

The substance is of Christ. That Jesus Christ is enough for salvation.

That the work that Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross at Calvary, having lived a perfect life, perfectly fulfilling the law of God, suffering as a sinless sacrifice and atonement for our sins, becoming the propitiation for our sins.

Christ was crucified, died, was taken down from the cross, put into a grave, buried, and three days later, he arose from the grave.

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And why did

Christ do such a thing? Because of our sin.

And sin will continually be creeping up on you. I'm going to speak in very specific terms this morning.

Are you saying, preacher, that the sin don't creep up on you? No, I'm saying that sin creeps up on every single one of us.

I'm saying I want you to take personally today the word that is preached to you.

Because it is unto you that the gospel comes today.

Will you believe the gospel, repent of your sins, and turn to Jesus Christ?

The sins Paul addressed, many were here, but particularly in his discourse to them, he says this, picking up in verse four again, he says,

Now this I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.

The issues were the same then as they are today. It is those velvet mouth preachers.

In George Whitefield's day, one of the quotes that came through that was kind of said concerning George Whitefield was this, because Whitefield was a little bit different than most preachers of his day.

Most preachers of his day stood staunch behind the pulpit with their feet together and maybe even their hands folded.

And they would speak very plainly and they would not have any emotion. They would not have any fire.

And they seemed like they had no power whatsoever. Whitefield, however, was moved because he had been born again by the

Spirit of God. And he understood and he knew that the message that he proclaimed was not a dead message, but it was a message of hope.

It was a message of life unto those who were lost. And so concerning his approach to preaching, his style of preaching, he said he would not be like those preachers, but he said if he has to, he will bawl.

He will stand and shout and he won't be like those velvet mouth preachers.

Those preachers who wanted to impress folks with their good speech. Those preachers who likely did not use the term here when they asked you if you heard about something.

He was just a man concerned about proclaiming the truth. So Paul's message here, he says,

I want you to know unto the Colossian church he's saying this, I do not want you to be deceived by persuasive words.

There are a great many people who stand and teach in the name of Christ who are not teaching the doctrine of God, but are teaching the doctrines and the commandments of men.

And so we must know the word of God. So Paul says, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.

And then Paul says this in his loving nature as he does to the church there.

He says, for I want you to know, though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit and I'm rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

This is why the gospel must be proclaimed every time we gather because false teaching, false doctrine, false ideologies will always be a threat.

But my friends, as long as the church of Jesus Christ does what we are called to do, and that is to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ as the only hope and the only savior of the world, then it will be glorifying unto the

Lord. So Paul says, goes on in verse six, as therefore you have received

Christ Jesus the Lord. He's reminding these folks, as we should be reminded, this is a timeless principle that goes throughout time.

It was ideal in the day that it was written to the Colossian church and it is ideal in our day today.

As therefore you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.

Now the scripture interprets the scripture. How can we understand this small statement that was made?

If you go back to the book of Galatians for just a moment, turn back to the book of Galatians.

We'll see that the Galatians were struggling and were wrestling with Judaism, trying to creep back in works -based faith, determining their righteousness based on how good a person that they were.

Paul writes to the Galatian church in chapter three and he says this, Oh foolish

Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes

Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified.

Speaking to the work of Christ being enough for salvation. He said this only

I want to learn from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?

So I would ask you that today. I would echo Paul's sentiment. Did you receive the spirit of Christ by works that you did or because of what

Jesus Christ did and applied to you by the Holy spirit? This is why we should never depend upon ourselves.

This is why you should never trust your heart. Your heart is wicked. Your heart will deceive you and your heart will lie to you.

But the word of God stands firm, never changing, never moving.

And then Paul says again, are you so foolish? Don't you know they loved him for that?

I can't believe the preacher called us foolish. Friends, it is foolish. It is flat out in hillbilly language, dumb for you to trust in anything other than Jesus Christ for salvation.

He said, having begun in the spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? You see that statement there, it was the same.

And it's almost echoed here because Paul is reminding him as you have received Christ Jesus the

Lord, as the spirit has worked in your heart and created of you a new creature, made of you a new creature, you ought to, and he goes on to say this, walk in him, continue in what you first believed, in the work of Jesus Christ.

And he says rooted, don't just walk in him, but be rooted and built up in him so that your roots go deep in Jesus Christ.

The scriptures tell us in the gospel, gives us the example in the parable of the seed and the sower that the good seed was scattered out and there was seed that sprang up immediately and died out.

There was seed that brought forth a little bit of life and then died out. But then there was some seed who took root and brought forth fruit some 30, some 60, some hundred fold because that was rooted and grounded.

There are a lot of things that happened in our lives. There are a lot of times when we come to church and we get emotionally supercharged or maybe someone persuades us in this way or that way.

Listen, I want you to know that you can have an emotional experience and not be saved.

And I'm not ever gonna go so far as to say you can be saved and not know it because that is impossible.

How can a man who is dead not rejoice that he has been made alive? How can the man who is lame from his birth be given the ability to walk?

Not rejoicing what Jesus Christ has accomplished is impossible.

But Paul says being rooted and built up in him and being established in the faith.

This is so necessary. It was Paul's message to the church then. It is Paul's message to the church today.

It is the word of God that we be established in him.

And Paul says this, as you have been taught. If you go back to chapter one, you'll realize, you'll understand and know

Paul commends Epaphras, the faithful servant of God here to the church at Colossae, a man who stood firm on the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And he's reminding the people of Colossae that they have been taught the truth. And he says, you need to abound in it with thanksgiving.

And then in verse eight, he says, beware. Lest anyone, he's doing this.

Stop, beware. He's doing whatever it takes.

How many people sit week in and week out through the church and they say, I wish the preacher would be quiet.

He calms down for a minute and then he starts yelling again. If it takes yelling,

I'll yell till I can't yell no more. Because you need to be born again.

You need to be saved by the grace of God. Beware, lest anyone, and he uses this term, cheat you.

How many of you love to be cheated? How many of you like to go to the gas station?

You get gas and you buy whatever. You buy a candy bar. You give the person behind the counter money and then they don't wanna give you your change back.

How many of you love it when that happens? Not a one of you, because you say, well, I'm not gonna be cheated.

I want you to know there is a plethora of men and women who sit in churches week after week, who are being cheated and deprived of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because they are leaning to the philosophies of men. Notice how Paul uses these terms, philosophy and empty deceit.

He sets them against the two terms, tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world.

So we see philosophy and the tradition of men contrasted. We see empty deceit and the basic principles of the world contrasted.

So philosophy is the ideologies taught by men, not according to the word of God, which was exactly what was being taught there, that they could mediate their worship through angels and that they could receive, if you would have these ecstatic experiences and these ecstatic experiences would transport them into the presence of God so that they could acceptably worship

God. Friend, it does not take ecstatic experiences to worship God. It takes a man being born again by the grace of God and understanding and knowing the truth of who he is, that he is a sinner deserving of the wrath of God and under the wrath of God and outside the grace and the mercy of God, settling down on that man and making him realize it, there is no hope for him.

So he uses these terms, philosophy and the tradition of men. Jesus addressed this issue in the gospels in one place.

In the gospels, the Bible talks about how the disciples weren't washing their hands and the

Pharisees saw them and the Pharisees got with Jesus and they said, how come is it that your disciples don't follow the tradition of the elders?

Now this is important. This is why reading and paying attention to the words in the text matter because that term that Jesus uses referring to what the

Pharisees referred to as their tradition of the elders were not the commandments of God. They were the addendums that they put in on the commandments of God to do this and to do that and to do this and to do that where everything became a handwriting of an ordinance that you had to keep to be considered true and faithful unto

God. Here's a newsflash. Not a one of us are true and faithful to God.

There has been one who is true and faithful to God and he is the Lord Jesus Christ.

He remained true and he remained faithful so that he could be the justification for our sin.

Don't let anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world.

And we see this explained again. The scripture goes on to make itself clear. He talks about the principles of the world a little further here in the text, but he uses this little phrase at the end of that and not according to Christ.

He said, if you're placing your confidence in your practices, you're missing the mark.

If you're placing your confidence in getting worked up into an ecstatic state where you see angels, then you are missing the point because he's told them earlier in this letter, he's reminding them that Christ is preeminent above all principalities and powers in reference to the angels.

And he goes on right here to say this and he reminds them verse nine, for in him dwells all the fullness of the

Godhead bodily. And you, he states this, and you are complete in him.

You are whole in Jesus Christ. Let me ask you a question.

Are you whole today? Are you lost? Are you in sin? Then I encourage you to believe the gospel in Jesus Christ today.

For Christ died for your sin of which you are not able to save yourself.

You are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power. And in this reading through the remainder of this,

I want you to take note and realize that there are times where different folks communicate different ways.

Paul many times used sarcasm. Now here in a minute, we'll get in, we'll see where he uses a little bit of sarcasm, but note here what he goes on to say.

So he's addressed the worship of angels here and the answer is Jesus Christ.

Next verse, next section here in verse 11, he says this, in him you were also circumcised. He's speaking to the

Judaism that was trying to creep back in, which was always being fought against. He said in him, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

This is important because even today, this is relevant. There are those who think that if they are born of a

Jewish descent or they meet certain requirements or they are circumcised, that they become

Jews and are automatically included in the family of God. But the apostle Paul in Romans makes this clear that it's not those who are

Jews outwardly have the outward circumcision of the flesh, but it's those who have the circumcision of the heart where God has took away the heart of stone out of them and put within my heart of flesh, a heart that can respond appropriately to him.

So he says this, you were buried with him in baptism in which you also were raised with him.

The King James version puts it this way through faith of the operation of God.

The new King James puts it this way through faith in the working of God.

The operation and the working, they mean the exact same thing. It is the work of God to save the sinner.

And it is only the work of God to save the sinner. And it is only that work that God can accomplish.

Listen, we have heart surgeons today. There are heart surgeons today who can go in, cut a person open, take out their heart, put a new heart in.

No, let me take that back. Put another heart in. But they cannot put a new heart in a man.

They cannot put a new heart in a woman. They cannot put a new heart in any boy or any girl.

They take one and exchange it for the other. But my friend, God takes the old and the dead and gives life and a new heart to the sinner.

This is good news today. Are you lost? I don't know if I'm lost. Well, let me ask you this.

Have you been born again? I don't know if I've been born again. Then you're lost. Then you need to be saved today.

Behold, now is the accepted time. I told you again, and I want you to realize this every week, the invitation is not at the end.

The invitation is throughout. Believe the gospel today through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead.

And you, he speaks directly to them, and you remember this, just as he told the

Ephesian church, you being dead in your trespasses, he's speaking before salvation, and you being dead in your trespasses, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of, the

King James says, the handwriting of ordinances. The new King James says, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements, which was against us, which was contrary to us.

Now the law of God was given so that we may know our sin. The law of God is absolutely just as necessary as it was when

God gave it to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is just as relevant today.

Men and women can know what their specific sins they're committing by looking at those commandments.

Are you a thief? Are you a liar? Are you a murderer? Have you worshiped God? Do you love

God with everything within you? I can tell you that according, based upon the word of God, that none have done such a thing except the

Lord Jesus Christ. He's having, he wiped out these handwriting of ordinances, which was against us, which was contrary to us.

And the Bible says, he took it out of the way. Having nailed it to the cross, and the

King James says, having spoiled principalities and powers, having disarmed them, having defeated them.

Again, this reference to principalities and powers pointing this Colossian church back to the person of Jesus Christ, that they should not worship angels, that Jesus Christ is higher than the angels.

And he goes on to say this, he nailed it to his cross, having disarmed principalities and powers.

He made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it.

Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave. So let no one judge you.

And here comes the, kind of the sarcasm with Paul. So let no one judge you in food or drink.

In other words, referring them back to that philosophy that had come in, that you'll be determined good or bad based on what you do.

He said, let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are just a shadow of things to come.

Because all that we have in the Old Testament, which is the Judaism that they were tending to lean back to as well.

He said, all those were just shadows and types of things that Christ was going to be.

For he says, but Christ is the substance. Verse 18, let no one cheat you.

And he uses that word again. Let no one cheat you of your reward. And what reward is that?

That you're taking delight in false humility and you're taking delight in the worship of angels and that you're intruding into those things, which he has not seen what they have not seen.

He's speaking from like a third person point of view. He said those vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not those holding fast to the head.

Who is the head of the church? Jesus Christ. And not those who hold fast to the head from whom all the body nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments grows with the increase that is from God.

How do you grow in wisdom and knowledge? How do you learn more about who God is, about God's character, about God's nature, about God's will for your life?

You study the scriptures. Verse 20, therefore, again, having said all this, therefore, if you did do as you say you had done, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, which are touch not, taste not, handle not, why as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations?

And that statement, do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all things concern, which all concern things which perish with using, that's in parentheses, you'll notice that, or you may have just the long line, but either way, that's a parenthetical statement.

If you were to just kind of leave out for just a second that parenthetical statement and read the sentence without that parenthetical statement,

Paul says, therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations according to the commandments and doctrines of men?

Why, having been born again by the spirit of God, do you depend on something other than the spirit of God for your faith, for your confidence, for your hope, for your wellbeing?

Because again, as he spoke to the Galatians, it begins with Christ and it ends with Christ.

He told the Philippian church, he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

So why do you do these things according to the commandments and doctrines of men? And then verse 23, these things indeed have an appearance of wisdom.

And here's this sarcasm in self -imposed religion. These who have an appearance, the appearance is not the substance.

There are a lot of people who can appear to have it all together. You may appear to others, to your friends and to your family to have it all together.

You may appear to the folks that you work with to have it all together.

You may appear to your family to have it all together. You may appear to your friends to have it all together.

When in reality, you are nothing but an empty shell.

You are a beautiful tombstone that houses nothing but dead men's bones, that houses and holds nothing but corruption and sin.

You may appear to have it all together. You may look humble to those around you.

You may seem religious. You may do this by neglecting your body.

Paul goes on to say this, but he said, I want you to know this, that it has no value against the indulgence of your flesh.

What Paul was saying was this. You can impose these restrictions upon yourself.

You can worship and make deities out of angels who are no deities, but are simply messengers of the

Lord. He said, you can neglect your body.

You can do all these things. You can do, you can do, you can do, but it's not going to be any kind of a cure or any kind of a remedy against the sin that dwells inside of you.

The only remedy for sin is the blood of Jesus Christ.

You must repent of your sins. An old, old quote, and I'll share this in closing.

A plea for men to come to the

Lord was stated like this. Listen, you unbelieving men, you dishonest men, you profane men, you lewd men and women, you slaves of lust and appetite, you scoffers at the truth of God.

How can you escape the damnation of God? That's a good question for you to ask yourself.

How can you escape the damnation of God? You men of business, you whose souls are absorbed with pursuit of gain, you people of wealth without riches toward God, you passengers on the voyage of life without prayer, without church relations, without concern for your immortal soul,

I want you to hear, hell has enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure and your glory and your multitude and your pomp and your rejoicing will descend into it.

Everything that you hold dear will burn away. Listen, you almost

Christians, how true this statement is. Listen, you almost

Christians, lingering these many years on the margins of the kingdom, looking in through the gates, but never quite ready to enter them, intending, but never performing, often wishing, but never, always postponing, hoping, but without right to hope, this appeal is to you.

How shall you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? And all you who call yourselves

Christians, but have forgotten your covenant promises, you are like a lost wife.

You have started out of the place of sin and death, but you have hesitated halfway and you have stopped to look back.

I encourage you today, turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Repent of your sin today. Believe, trust, hold, cling to what

Jesus Christ has done. He says, you are a baptized

Judas. You through who covening and feigned words, you make merchandise of the grace of God.

You see not that your judgment now of a long time lingers and your damnation slumbers not.

And if there be anyone oblivious or indifference toward these great matters, asleep amidst the dashing waves of coming retribution, this message is for you.

Why do you sleep? Arise, call upon my God, if so be that if God shall think upon you, that you will not perish.

For the scripture tells us this, for if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was swallowed up.

Is your name in the book of life? Listen, it would be awesome if I could check for you.

Spurgeon in speaking about the sake, he said, it would be wonderful if we knew who was going to be saved and who wasn't going to be saved just by pulling up their shirt tails and seeing if they had a yellow stripe up their backs.

But we can't. But God knows you are. Yes, amen. And God knows your sin.

And God knows your position. And God knows your place. And God knows where you're at. There's nowhere that you can go high and nowhere that you can go low that God does not know.

So where does your hope lie? If it's anything other than Christ, there is no hope that you have.

And if you have it, it is a false hope. It is a wavering hope. It is a hope that when the slightest of waves crash up against it, when the smallest breeze blows, that it will be knocked over and fall down and tumble to the ground.

And you will ever be without that hope. But today you have the opportunity. For Christ through the word of God comes and he says, believe on me.

Will you believe on him today? Will you trust him today? Will you cling to Jesus Christ today?

Cast aside the works of the flesh, cast aside your hope in who you are or what you're doing and trust in Jesus Christ today.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as I come before your throne this morning, it is my prayer that those who hear the word of God who have heard the word read in their hearing, who have heard the word quoted in their hearing would know and would, for those that are saved, that they would have full assurance of faith based upon you and your word.

That they can rejoice in what you have done. That they can rejoice in your life, in your death, in your burial and in your resurrection.

That they know to the full assurance that their sins have been forgiven, that their names are in the

Lamb's book of life and that they have a place prepared for them.

For truly God, our hope is not in this world nor in the things of this world, but our hope is in you.

For those who have not known you, for those who have not known you and for those who do not know you, those who seem as though they are dead and that they have no concern nor care for eternal things.

That God, you would do one of two things today. Give them joy, give them life, give them wisdom, give them the knowledge of you through your spirit or God.

And I say this with care and concern, hoping that some might be shaken out of their deadness, that you,

God, would remind them that they have nothing but hell to look forward to, that they have nothing but an eternal awareness that on this day they heard the gospel and that they rejected your word.

God, may that thought shake them from their deadness.

May that thought wake up the sleeper. May that thought bring the fear of God which leads unto life.

For you, God, are good and you are kind and you are gracious.

You are righteous in all of your ways.

And if those who hear the message of your word today died lost, it would be just and it would be right.

For it would have been just and right had you not saved me and I had spent an eternity in hell.

But you are not only just, but you are merciful. So, God, I would ask you to be just and be merciful to those in this place that hear your words today.

For it is in Jesus' name I pray, amen. In closing here.