Partners in the Gospel

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.960 If you're able, please remain standing and let's hear the end of the book 2 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:24.820 of Philippians. This is chapter four, beginning at verse ten. Philippians four, 3 00:00:24.899 --> 00:00:31.059 verse ten. I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now, at length, 4 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:35.460 you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, 5 00:00:35.890 --> 00:00:39.490 but you had no opportunity. Not that I'm speaking of being in need, 6 00:00:39.969 --> 00:00:42.890 for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. 7 00:00:43.009 --> 00:00:47.890 I know how to be brought low and how to abound in every in 8 00:00:48.210 --> 00:00:52.520 any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, 9 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:57.200 abundance in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 10 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:02.039 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble, and you Philippians 11 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:06.189 yourselves know that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, 12 00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:11.950 no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you. 13 00:01:11.150 --> 00:01:15.510 Only, even in Thessalonika, you sent me help for my needs once and 14 00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:21.299 again, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that 15 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:25.659 increases. To your credit, I have received full pay, Amen and more. 16 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:30.340 I am well supplied, having received from epaphroditus that gives you sent a 17 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:36.890 fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God, and my God will 18 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:41.409 supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory. In Christ Jesus, 19 00:01:42.129 --> 00:01:47.920 to our God and father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet 20 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:52.439 every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 21 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.319 All the saints, greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. The grace 22 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:02.310 of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Please be seated 23 00:02:13.830 --> 00:02:19.659 well here. Paul closes his letter in many ways similarly to the way he 24 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:24.219 began. He talks to them about their partnership in the Gospel, their work 25 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:30.530 together for the sake of the gospels spread. We even in a sense, 26 00:02:30.569 --> 00:02:36.810 as the the letter opened being addressed to all the saints in Christ Jesus who 27 00:02:36.849 --> 00:02:42.050 are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons, are also addressed here. At 28 00:02:42.090 --> 00:02:47.240 the end. These words greet every saint in Christ Jesus seemed to be commanded 29 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:53.240 to this particular group of the elders and Deacons, who then would pass along 30 00:02:53.439 --> 00:03:00.229 this greeting to the all the saints and in particular. He has in mind 31 00:03:00.389 --> 00:03:05.669 all of them individually, every saint in Christ Jesus. He sends this greeting 32 00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:10.469 from a difficult place, but it's a greeting full of blessing and grace from 33 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:19.060 our God and father. In these final verses we reflect again on many of 34 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:23.699 the themes that have come up throughout the letter, this letter of Paul to 35 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:29.530 the Philippian Church at in particular. We see coming out of this text on 36 00:03:29.729 --> 00:03:35.210 their partnership in the Gospel. They're working together for the sake of the Gospel. 37 00:03:35.250 --> 00:03:38.770 Paul says that they've supplied for his need so that he would go out. 38 00:03:39.650 --> 00:03:45.120 He talks about how it is acceptable to God and and various other things 39 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:50.400 ways in which the Philippian church were caring for Paul and making sure that this 40 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:57.430 minister of God was was taken care of in his in his ministry. And 41 00:03:57.550 --> 00:04:00.870 as we think about that, what we'll see tonight is that our partnership in 42 00:04:00.990 --> 00:04:05.310 the Gospel is not just working a together for the sake or the spread of 43 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:13.539 the Gospel, but it also means living by its power. Well, begin 44 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:18.339 by thinking about the responsibilities that we have to one another in the church. 45 00:04:19.540 --> 00:04:24.610 We see some of that here in the text, this need of needs and 46 00:04:24.730 --> 00:04:29.930 responses, of giving and receiving. When God makes us members of his church, 47 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:34.810 he calls us to fulfill certain responsibilities to each other. Like a properly 48 00:04:34.850 --> 00:04:40.920 functioning human body, the members of the body of Christ have to work together, 49 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:46.839 each serving their particular function for the benefit of the others. The brain 50 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:49.360 does its function for the benefit of the body, the blood, the arm, 51 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:55.389 and on and on and on. And scripture speaks in this way in 52 00:04:55.670 --> 00:05:00.470 many, many places. There's so many passages throughout both the old and New 53 00:05:00.509 --> 00:05:05.910 Testament that indicate that command. We are to serve one another, both in 54 00:05:06.029 --> 00:05:12.899 our spiritual needs and in our physical ones. In thinking about those physical and 55 00:05:13.300 --> 00:05:18.779 material needs, we have a lot of different instructions. In first John Seventeen, 56 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:23.970 for example, we read that if anyone has the world's good and sees 57 00:05:24.009 --> 00:05:28.810 his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's 58 00:05:28.810 --> 00:05:31.689 love abide in him? Little Children, let us not love in word or 59 00:05:31.810 --> 00:05:38.839 talk, but indeed or in truth. James One fifteen says similarly, if 60 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:44.439 a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food and one 61 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:47.639 of you says to him or to them go in peace, be warmed and 62 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:53.990 be filled. Without giving them the things needed for the body, what good 63 00:05:54.110 --> 00:05:59.110 is that? So also faith by itself does if it does not have works, 64 00:05:59.629 --> 00:06:02.790 is dead. And so, in these very explicit ways, the New 65 00:06:02.870 --> 00:06:06.379 Testament tells us that, his brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to 66 00:06:06.459 --> 00:06:13.019 be caring for one to one another, specifically the needs of the body. 67 00:06:14.660 --> 00:06:19.449 Paul will even speak narrowly of certain groups of people within the church. Widows, 68 00:06:19.529 --> 00:06:23.930 for example, within the church who are truly in need, are to 69 00:06:23.970 --> 00:06:30.610 be enrolled for material care. First Timothy Three says that we are to honor 70 00:06:31.089 --> 00:06:35.519 widows who are truly widows, and Paul will go on to explain that the 71 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:43.920 church should enroll them, I'm to receive material care. This needful duty was 72 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:47.550 in fact the reason that the martyr Stephen and six other men were chosen and 73 00:06:47.949 --> 00:06:54.029 acts chapter six to be devoted to this particular need of seeing to the care 74 00:06:54.069 --> 00:06:59.389 of the widows of the Church. Another specific group, Paul Mentions our ministers. 75 00:07:00.189 --> 00:07:03.019 In that same chapter, First Timothy Five, Paul uses similar langue, 76 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:10.420 which of connecting honor and financial support. In first Timothy Seventeen through eighteen, 77 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:15.339 Paul says, let the elders who rule be considered worthy of double honor, 78 00:07:15.379 --> 00:07:19.930 especially those who labor in Preaching and teaching, for the scripture says you shall 79 00:07:19.970 --> 00:07:25.529 not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, and the laborer deserves 80 00:07:25.569 --> 00:07:30.639 his wages. This is what's going on in the background. Then here is 81 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:33.600 Paul, writes to the Philippians and sells them. You are caring for me, 82 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:38.560 you are taking care of the things that I need. Indeed, he 83 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:44.910 says, I have been well supplied, I'm well taken care of. Another 84 00:07:44.949 --> 00:07:49.350 Apostle, the apostle Peter, sums up our Lord's commands in this regard when 85 00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:54.750 he says in First Peter, for eight through ten, above all, keep 86 00:07:54.910 --> 00:08:01.220 loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality 87 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:07.300 to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it 88 00:08:07.459 --> 00:08:13.889 to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. As each has 89 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:18.209 received a gift, we are called to use it to serve one another as 90 00:08:18.410 --> 00:08:26.449 good stewards of God's varied grace. This are these verses that I'm quoting here 91 00:08:26.490 --> 00:08:30.920 are just a sampling of the passages that we find throughout the New Testament and 92 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:35.000 many, many more along similar lines in the old. Sometimes they're called these 93 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:39.279 one another passages, these ways in which we are called to care for one 94 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:45.629 another, in many, many spiritual ways, which I haven't mentioned, but 95 00:08:45.750 --> 00:08:50.269 also in these physical ones. And it's in this same physical sense that the 96 00:08:50.590 --> 00:08:54.990 the Philippians are caring for Paul's need. You remember, after all, that 97 00:08:54.190 --> 00:09:00.539 he's in prison. He has a particular needs as he's there, as he's 98 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:07.460 going out and ministering, he has to provide for himself food, clothing, 99 00:09:07.779 --> 00:09:11.490 other kinds of things like that, and in some of these places it wasn't 100 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:16.809 always easy reread. And First Thessalonians. Paul says to the Thessalonians that you 101 00:09:18.049 --> 00:09:22.730 didn't give me anything, I took care of my own needs. Here it 102 00:09:22.850 --> 00:09:28.639 seems as it's a little bit uncertain, but it seems that perhaps what was 103 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:33.559 going on in the background there that he doesn't mentioned the Thessalonians, is the 104 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:39.830 Philippians gift that was supporting him while he was among the Thessalonians, partially taking 105 00:09:39.870 --> 00:09:43.629 care of his needs and the things that he required there so that the Gospel 106 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:50.669 could go clearly to them. Without any concerns. So when we take all 107 00:09:50.710 --> 00:09:54.860 these things together, the point should be clear. When God makes us members 108 00:09:54.940 --> 00:09:58.700 of his church, he calls us to fulfill certain responsibilities to one another. 109 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:05.940 We already use the gifts God has given us, whether that's time or talents 110 00:10:05.019 --> 00:10:11.009 or money. We are to use these gifts to serve one another and in 111 00:10:11.169 --> 00:10:16.009 doing so, got serve God himself, as he has commanded these things. 112 00:10:16.970 --> 00:10:22.799 But in fulfilling these duties there is a temptation which we have to be aware 113 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.240 of, a temptation we have to be very cautious of. In fact, 114 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:31.639 there will many. There are many, but I'll highlight one and it's this. 115 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:37.710 When fulfilling these duties to one another, in all the organizational and taking 116 00:10:37.789 --> 00:10:41.669 care of aspects of the church, we will be tempted to fulfill these duties 117 00:10:41.710 --> 00:10:46.149 in a merely outward way. But what we see in this passage is that 118 00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:50.820 the giving and the receiving that goes on in the body of Christ is to 119 00:10:50.860 --> 00:10:56.419 be thought of an exercised in not only an outward way but a spiritual and 120 00:10:56.620 --> 00:11:01.860 inward way as well. The temptation is very clear and we've all experienced and 121 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:07.610 fallen into it. To think of our duties is merely the business of the 122 00:11:07.690 --> 00:11:13.850 church, the proper functioning of the body. Often times we take these things 123 00:11:13.009 --> 00:11:20.279 down to purely logistical or managerial terms or tasks. We do these things simply 124 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:24.279 to get them done. The doors need to be unlocked, the hymnals need 125 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:28.519 to be collected, people need to arrive early to set up and stay late 126 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:33.509 to clean up. We have people that need to prepare for communion, collect 127 00:11:33.629 --> 00:11:37.110 offering, play the piano, operate lights and sound. We need people to 128 00:11:37.190 --> 00:11:41.870 give their money when they're doing well so that others can be supported in their 129 00:11:41.950 --> 00:11:46.070 time of need. All these things have to be accomplished and we can very 130 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:50.580 easily get on a track of simply accomplishing them, checking the boxes and making 131 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:56.580 sure everything's getting done decently and in good order. Not that there's anything wrong 132 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:01.929 with that, but there's something deeper, a deeper perspective, which apostle indicates 133 00:12:01.009 --> 00:12:07.009 to us here in this passage about these kinds of things. Paul wants us, 134 00:12:07.529 --> 00:12:13.649 like the Philippians, to think of these tasks not merely as the operations 135 00:12:13.330 --> 00:12:20.000 of an earthly organization, but the spiritual operations of a heavenly one, and 136 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:26.240 swith spiritual ends attached to it. Look at some of the ways he speaks 137 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:31.429 about these transactions that they're making between one another in love. He says in 138 00:12:31.549 --> 00:12:39.029 verse fourteen that it was kind of you to share my trouble. The PHILIPPIAN 139 00:12:39.110 --> 00:12:43.149 church isn't in jail with Paul. They didn't travel with him along the roads, 140 00:12:43.230 --> 00:12:48.539 but in all ways, in various ways, he counts their sending of 141 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:54.419 this gift with this minister epaphroditus. He counts this as sharing in his trouble. 142 00:12:56.620 --> 00:13:00.970 It's a sign of their love, it's a commitment to the Gospel. 143 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:07.250 It has this very spiritual aspect to it. We see that in is, 144 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:11.250 as Paul continues. He says in you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning 145 00:13:11.250 --> 00:13:15.840 of the Gospel, which means in the beginning of his work, of the 146 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:20.919 Gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in 147 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:26.750 giving and receiving. Accept you only. We see also that Paul puts these 148 00:13:26.830 --> 00:13:33.789 in spiritual terms when thinking about their benefits or the ways in which it affects 149 00:13:33.190 --> 00:13:39.110 and comes to him, affects the Philippians and comes to Paul. Notice what 150 00:13:39.190 --> 00:13:43.059 he says, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit 151 00:13:43.220 --> 00:13:46.940 that increases to your credit. So when Paul, in a sense enjoys their 152 00:13:48.139 --> 00:13:54.899 generosity, it's true that he appreciates the generosity of the gift itself, but 153 00:13:54.019 --> 00:14:00.210 he also sees generosity in a spiritual way. He says, I appreciate or 154 00:14:00.490 --> 00:14:05.889 I'm thankful for your generosity. He wants not just the gift. In fact 155 00:14:05.889 --> 00:14:11.240 he says he doesn't want the gift, but he wants the fruit that increases 156 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:16.399 to your credit. You see how he speaks in these he mixes these financial 157 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:20.200 and spiritual terms. The work of the spirit in their lives, in their 158 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:28.710 giving, is this fruit that he knows will increase to their credit. Paul 159 00:14:28.830 --> 00:14:33.070 again put takes this yet a step further when he says that he has received 160 00:14:33.110 --> 00:14:39.659 from epaphod epaphroditus that gives you sent and listen to how he describes them a 161 00:14:39.860 --> 00:14:46.340 fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. Could Paul put this 162 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:52.090 monetary gift in more spiritual terms than this, to put this in the same 163 00:14:52.330 --> 00:15:00.289 category as the Old Testament spiritual sacrifices and indeed even that sacrifice that Christ himself 164 00:15:00.529 --> 00:15:05.370 made on the Cross. You see what Paul's doing here. He's not merely 165 00:15:05.409 --> 00:15:07.720 saying that money needs to be moved around, that people need to be cared 166 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:13.440 for. Of all these things, he sees them in a very spiritual way, 167 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:20.120 sharing in the trouble, sharing in the Gospel, signs of love and 168 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:26.029 commitment to God, a benefit that is a cruing to them, a benefit 169 00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:31.029 to him as well, as we read and in Romans Chapter Fifteen, a 170 00:15:31.190 --> 00:15:35.620 spiritual sacrifice, and then, of course, the trust of the Soul in 171 00:15:35.820 --> 00:15:41.179 God's provisions. Of these things, he says, as they give of themselves, 172 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:46.340 of their money in their time, that God will supply every need of 173 00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:52.809 yours according to the riches in glory in Christ Jesus. All of these things 174 00:15:52.210 --> 00:15:58.250 on Paul Point to us. This fact, this point that are giving to 175 00:15:58.409 --> 00:16:03.399 one another, are meeting the needs of one another and fulfilling those responsibilities, 176 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:10.600 is not merely the aspects of an outward material organization, but they are connected 177 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:18.000 to an inward spirituality. To see things in a spiritual way more fully gets 178 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:22.789 at the kind and qualities of our duties toward one another. We're not merely 179 00:16:22.909 --> 00:16:27.870 giving some one a ride or hosting a meal or moving money from one side 180 00:16:27.870 --> 00:16:33.779 of a ledger to another. In these outward actions, we are participating in 181 00:16:33.460 --> 00:16:38.899 the spiritual life of the body of Christ, fulfilling spiritual needs in his name. 182 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:47.610 And so it goes without saying that we should desire to be this kind 183 00:16:47.649 --> 00:16:52.649 of church, that we should strive to be those who fulfill the material needs 184 00:16:52.730 --> 00:16:56.769 we owe to one another, and we should do so in a spiritual way 185 00:16:56.409 --> 00:17:03.160 and according to spiritual goals. But as we desire this, as we want 186 00:17:03.319 --> 00:17:07.720 and and hope and pray to be this kind of church, the kind of 187 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:11.880 church that the Philippian church is, the kind of church that we are called 188 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:17.109 to be, we have to put this work that we are called to, 189 00:17:17.990 --> 00:17:25.150 these duties and responsibilities, in a proper category. Just because these things are 190 00:17:25.349 --> 00:17:32.420 spiritual doesn't mean that they are the gospel themselves. To put these works in 191 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:36.259 their proper category, we have to say that they are the fruit of the 192 00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:42.940 Gospel, not the Gospel itself. In other words, these spiritual requirements don't 193 00:17:42.980 --> 00:17:48.490 just come automatically by our trying hard. They have to come by the power 194 00:17:48.809 --> 00:17:56.289 of the spirit of God working in us. This is so important because it 195 00:17:56.450 --> 00:18:02.440 doesn't make sense if we try to think of these holy and spiritual works as 196 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:07.559 something that can be accomplished by our unholy and fleshly selves. If we say, 197 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:12.269 okay, I understand what God is requiring us to do, this spiritual 198 00:18:12.309 --> 00:18:18.029 people. He is calling us to be this deeply spiritual, with a capital 199 00:18:18.589 --> 00:18:22.950 s holy, spiritual kind of people. Do we really believe we will become 200 00:18:23.069 --> 00:18:29.619 that simply by digging deeper into our inner resources? Or will we be that 201 00:18:29.859 --> 00:18:34.619 by being people that are empowered by the Holy Spirit in dwelt, refreshed, 202 00:18:34.819 --> 00:18:41.210 regenerated by the spirit of God working in and through us? It has to 203 00:18:41.329 --> 00:18:45.490 be the latter. In other words, these fruits of the Gospel are not 204 00:18:45.730 --> 00:18:52.769 produced by our fleshly selves. They are produced by the Gospel, by God's 205 00:18:52.769 --> 00:18:57.559 grace, working in US and continuing to work in US, sanctifying us according 206 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:03.079 to his word. We rely on Christ, in other words, who established 207 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:08.400 his church and promised that his establishing of the Church wouldn't fail. We rely 208 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:15.750 on him our head to support and direct and and lead the body. We 209 00:19:15.910 --> 00:19:19.430 rely on the spirit who in dwells the body of Christ and is working in 210 00:19:19.630 --> 00:19:25.940 US and through us. When we think, for example, of our fragrant 211 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:30.579 offering and sacrifices that are acceptable and pleasing to God. We can't think of 212 00:19:30.740 --> 00:19:36.099 those as those that are offered in Our Name and to our glory. We 213 00:19:36.220 --> 00:19:38.690 have to think of them in nate, offered in the name of Christ and 214 00:19:38.849 --> 00:19:44.809 to his glory, or, to use the words of scripture from Ephesians Five, 215 00:19:44.930 --> 00:19:48.849 too, we are called to walk in Love, as Christ love us, 216 00:19:49.410 --> 00:19:55.799 loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to 217 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:02.240 God. You See, our ability to offer something that's pleasing to God, 218 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:07.829 to offer up something that he accepts and delights in, only happens because it 219 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:15.069 comes in this larger sacrifice, in being belonging to the great sacrifice of Jesus 220 00:20:15.069 --> 00:20:22.019 Christ. This is why, when we seek to do the things of God, 221 00:20:22.819 --> 00:20:26.460 the things described here at the end of Philippians four, we do so 222 00:20:27.019 --> 00:20:33.019 not in our own strength or according to our own power, or according to 223 00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:37.690 our or for our own glory, but on reliance on the grace of God 224 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:41.930 into his glory. That's why Paul begins and ends his letter this way. 225 00:20:44.410 --> 00:20:48.690 He says, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. 226 00:20:48.769 --> 00:20:52.559 This is the thing that is going to make us the people that we want 227 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:56.799 to be, the people that God has called us to be, and so 228 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:02.079 it is to the grace of God that we must always go. When we 229 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:06.509 hear these duties, when we hear these requirements and we see both the ways 230 00:21:06.549 --> 00:21:10.670 in which we want to fulfill them and the ways in which we haven't fulfilled 231 00:21:10.710 --> 00:21:15.869 them, our response aunt should be not to go deeper into ourselves, but 232 00:21:15.029 --> 00:21:21.380 to go further and rely more on the grace, on the grace, on 233 00:21:21.460 --> 00:21:25.700 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is him that is with 234 00:21:25.859 --> 00:21:30.299 our spirit, that strengthens us and motivates us and changes US and renews us. 235 00:21:32.579 --> 00:21:34.130 This is why, when we seek to do the things of God, 236 00:21:36.009 --> 00:21:40.490 we do so with reliance on the grace of God and do them to the 237 00:21:40.609 --> 00:21:45.690 glory of God. If we try to do otherwise, striving to be a 238 00:21:45.849 --> 00:21:53.000 spiritual body through fleshly and self glorifying means, we will surely fail and we 239 00:21:53.039 --> 00:22:00.079 will give people the Gospel in a cup of the law. God forbid. 240 00:22:00.430 --> 00:22:07.630 Instead, we depend not on ourselves but in God working in us, supplying, 241 00:22:07.670 --> 00:22:11.190 as Paul says, all that we need. And when we live by 242 00:22:11.430 --> 00:22:18.180 grace, the glory will be all to God's and we will be glorified in 243 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:23.299 him. May God grant to us the spirit to do this work, in 244 00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:30.849 US and through us. May We learn to partner together for the Gospel Spread, 245 00:22:30.890 --> 00:22:36.369 and to do so by the Gospel's power. Amen.