Our Redeemer Never Fails

They would actually come to us and they would correct us. And part of the correction was we would have to look at each other and say, I'm sorry. And they would have to hug each other. I would love a video of what that looked like. Because I didn't have any emotion in that hug. I didn't want to hug him. But my parents, and it was a good thing, it was a good thing to make us hug. It was forced. So my parents could change the way we acted, but they couldn't change the way we felt. I was still upset that he stole my G.I. Joe. I was upset that he had deconstructed it oftentimes. But my parents were right in making me hug him and say, I'm sorry, but they couldn't change my heart. You see, we need a divine redemption. We need a divine change of the heart. One that only comes from above. One that only comes through Christ. This morning, our message is very simple. God is our friend who sticks to us closer than our brother. God is our friend who sticks to us closer than our brother. And there I'm obviously referring to Proverbs 18, 24. We will see our need for a divine redeemer. The message is all about brothers. Brother is used 15 times in this text. We have Joseph who's this outsider. There's 11 brothers and he's not part of the club. And we'll see why. We have brothers hating a brother. We have brothers wanting to murder a brother. We have brothers selling a brother. And then we see our great God who sticks to us closer than a brother. Let's look here, Genesis 37. I'll just read the first verse and a half. Jacob lived in the land of his father, sojourning in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Now, that last little phrase has been repeated throughout Genesis. We saw these are the generations of Abraham. These are the generations of Isaac. Now we have these are the generations of Jacob. And there's something interesting there is that usually when it says these are the generations of so and so, the emphasis is on their son. Here we see the emphasis is going to be on Joseph. We see a great declaration that these are the generations of Jacob. He's living in the land of his fathers, thankfully. But the emphasis is on Joseph. And that's peculiar because the promised son isn't going to come through Joseph. Joseph is his favorite. Joseph is going to get the double portion as if he were the firstborn. But He's not God's chosen Son through whom He's going to reverse the curse. For those of you who haven't been here with us, we're looking back to Genesis 3.15. After we sinned, after we messed up God's great plan, God made a promise. I will give you, Eve, a Son who's going to reverse the curse, who's going to destroy sin, who's going to destroy death. And we've been waiting for that Son time after time. We thought maybe it was Isaac. But he failed. We thought maybe it was Jacob, but he failed. Now, is it Joseph? No. The line went from Abraham to Isaac, not Ishmael. Then from Isaac to Jacob, not Esau. And then from Jacob to Judah. Not Reuben, not Simeon, not Levi. So it's interesting here that the real focus isn't on the child who's going to be the great-great-grandfather of the Savior, Jesus Christ. It's on Joseph. This doesn't mean this whole story isn't about salvation, though. This is one of the greatest redemption stories in all of text. Joseph has mesmerized Muslims, Jews, and Christians throughout the ages because it is such a fantastic story. about a character, about great swings and in the motion of how he acts morally and outstanding. We look here, we're going to see God is setting up a great plan. God is sending his people into Egypt. That's where we're going. We're going to start there today. We're going to take a little bit of a side trip with next week. We are going to look at Judah, and it's not going to be that flattering. Go ahead and know that is also not a PG. story. But the big trajectory, the big story is we're going to Egypt so that God can first grow up his people. They're going to become numerous and rich and wealthy and powerful. But more than that, God's going to allow his people there to be punished. They're going to suffer. They're going to go through a great trial, a great tribulation so that God can bring a great redemption. That's where we're going. Again, Joseph is in our focus here. If you look at the whole story, it's actually quite dramatic that Genesis ends with Joseph's death in Egypt. Let's look at our text. Our first point this morning is that God's love for us should humble us. God's love for us should humble us. God, who is closer than a friend, His love for us should humble us. Read with me verses 1 through 11. Jacob lived in the land of his father, sojourning in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being 17 years old, was pastoring the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a rug of many colors. And when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. Now Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, hear this dream that I have dreamed. Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field. And behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf. His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me. And when he had told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, what is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you? And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in his mind. We will grow to love Joseph, but just like every other character in the Bible, he's going to start out really slow. Abraham lied about his wife in Egypt. Jacob was a conniver, a manipulator. They start out slow, but by God's grace, he changes them. We're going to love Joseph in a few chapters, but right here, he's kind of a pesky character. Usually, the emphasis on the story is on how bad his brothers are to him, but I think he asks for it. He doesn't have to be murdered or to be sold into slavery. Again, the Israelite brothers, just like Shechem, they kind of overdo justice. But Joseph's not a great guy here. Look, he's out with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, and he comes to his father and he tattles on them. He gives a bad report. Now, I don't know if those sons are actually doing something bad or not, but I think it's interesting that he's with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. They're the servant girls. Right? There's Rachel and Leah, the real wives of Jacob, and then there's the new servant wives. I think what he was trying to do was create a hierarchy. Let's start cutting out some of these servant children so that the real children could have a more of a portion. Regardless, he's not winning any friends here. He's telling on his brothers. He's already seen as this great outsider. Secondly, Jacob is loved more by his father. I'm sorry, Joseph is loved more by his father. Jacob loves Joseph more than the other sons. Now this is startling. If we go back and look at Jacob and his father Isaac. Because Isaac loved Esau. Jacob has been the victim of favoritism. Here, he's following in the same pattern of his father that hurt him, and he's showing favoritism. That really stands out that the man who suffered under favoritism is now showing favoritism. It says it's because he's the son of his old age. It was a surprise birth, maybe. Most of all, I think it's important to make sure we know that Jacob loved Rachel, that was his real love, and this is her first son. I believe that has a lot to do with how this child is his favorite son. Now as we look at this, he gives him a fancy coat. We don't know what this looks like. I'm sure Asher has something that looks like it. He asked me if I was going to say something about it. But it's a fancy coat and it's interesting because he or Jacob, he uses his coat to mark out his favorite son, but really it becomes a mark on him, as we'll see later in the story. Also, as we look ahead, Joseph's life, there's always a coat involved, right? There's a lot of clothing involved in how his story plays out. So that's just, there's a lot of symbolism here in how this particular clothing plays out in the next stories with clothing. Third, Joseph boasts about his dreams to his brothers. Joseph boasts about his dreams to his brothers. The brothers already hate him. The brothers already can't speak peacefully to him. But here he starts having dreams. And dreams are also going to play a prominent role in the future life of Joseph. Here he starts going to his brothers and saying, hey guys, had a dream last night. We're all sheaves. And yes, you are bowing down to me. Hey dad, You and the brothers and mom, well, you're all bowing down to my star. They were God-given dreams. Joseph knew that they were true. But the way he goes about communicating this really lacks tact, lacks love. It's really the most ridiculous response to God's grace. By God's grace, this one son, is going to be used by God in an amazing way to bring about God's great revelation of His love and power for the nation of Israel. It's the most ridiculous response to grace. Boasting of yourself after receiving grace is the most ridiculous response to grace. To think that it makes you special. because you deserved it, or it's going to make you special because you'll get something out of it beyond God's own intention. If God's salvation should do anything toward disposition and character, it should bring humility. If there's anything that God's salvation should do, if there's any response in us, as we look to the cross of Jesus Christ, it's humility. Boasting has no place among the believers, unless it's boasting in Christ. As we look at this, it's poor form. This is bad manners, but it's bad theology. It's taking God's gifts for a selfish purpose. Let's do a little analyzing here. Jesus says that they will know us by our love. Jesus says the world will know that we are His Jesus says that the world would know us as Christians by our love. How would the world know us by our boasting? How would others know us and who we are and what we believe based upon what we boast in? Well, here's some questions to help us think through that. How often do you feel the need in a conversation to declare one of your accomplishments or your success? When you're talking with someone, how often are you compelled to declare something you've done or some reward that you have received? Second question. How often do you leave a conversation having been the one that spoke the most? How often have you been the one that declared the most things? Maybe it's about you. Maybe it's about something else. But when have you been the person who speaks constantly in the conversation? Being quiet is a sign and a mark of humility. Third, when with others, how much do you turn the conversation to ask them questions about them? How often are you looking for ways to find out more about the other person rather than talking about yourself? Compare how much you talk about you and what you want to talk about rather than what you talk about with them and what they want to talk about. How often do you long for the praise of others versus how much you seek out ways to praise others? Now, these are just questions that help us think. We're not all that humble. These are questions that help us realize that humility isn't a strong suit. But we can't stop there because that's only going to create moralism. And we're here to create gospel loving and gospel-living believers. We need to take it to the next level. We need to think about what humility means in the gospel. We are told to boast only in Christ. We are to not take anything He gives to us for granted. We are not to think we deserve anything He gives to us. Rather, we are to explicitly give Him genuine praise, thanks, and credit for everything we have. When we gather together, we are to boast of Christ. When we come together as brothers and sisters, we are supposed to be talking about Christ and what He has done and what He is doing and what He has given us. Now, as we come together, what do you boast about? In your own mind, what are you thinking about when we come together as brothers and sisters? I assume there's two different kinds of sin going on. In the first case, There's a proud person who looks around and figures out who is inferior to him in his accomplishments. And he finds pleasure in that. The self-righteous person comes into the body of saints and he looks around and he says, ha, I'm better than that person at this thing. The self-righteous boaster comes and he finds ways to make himself feel better by comparing him to someone who does something less effective than him. The second case is the opposite. The second is the defeated person who looks around and can only see how others have accomplished something that they have not. This is the crush and the disheartened. Now, the first person, they're boasting in themselves. The second person is really no better. They're boasting in somebody else. The second person is not boasting in Christ. They're boasting in another person. They're looking at them and say, look how great they are. Why can't I be like them? This is equally sinful. Both are sinful because they are not seeing God as a good and perfect giver of every good and perfect gift. When we come together, we should be coming together to talk about the gospel, what God is doing in us and in others. Friends, if you tend to feel judged, if you tend to feel inferior, If you tend to feel crushed because you constantly come and you compare yourself to others, the solution is simple and clear. You need to build your identity in Christ. If you're coming and you're constantly thinking, I wish I was more like him or her. You need to stop thinking about others and comparing yourself to them. You need to start thinking about the gospel. Your identity needs to be built up in who Christ is and what He has done for you. It's not what you do. If you're a believer and you're crushed because you constantly feel inferior, know that you're a child of God because of Jesus Christ. Know that you have a hope that's sure and steadfast because of Jesus Christ. Know that you have a love that's divine and never ending because of Jesus Christ. Know that you or a child of God who has a good purpose and eternal kingdom waiting. Let your identity then change the way you act and the way you live. The second case, if you tend to be the brother or sister who boasts, you're the one that comes in and you look around and you see, oh, I'm better than this person. Well, the prescription is clear and simple as well because it's the same prescription. You need to have your identity more rooted in the gospel. If you come into the body of saints and you look around and you say, I've got things put together better than A, B, or C, you're not really thinking about the gospel well. You're not realizing that anything good that you have or anything good that you do is from Christ. It's by grace alone that you're able to lead your life well. It's by grace alone that you have any gift worth boasting about. If we're boasters, we need to see how wicked we are. And the way you see that is by looking at the cross and seeing what Jesus had to do to save you from your own sin, to save you from God's wrath. When we are puffed up, we need reminding that we are sinners. So here we see that boasting in our gifts, well, it leads to destruction. It will lead to ultimate destruction. What we need to do is boast in Christ together. Let's turn now to our second point. Our sin causes us to devour our brothers. Our sin causes us to devour our brothers. And this is in verses 21 through 28. Now his brothers went to pastor their father's flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers pastoring the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here I am. So he said to him, Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word. So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, What are you seeking? I am seeking my brothers. He said, Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock. And the man said, They have gone away, for I heard them say, Let us go to Dauphin. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dauphin. They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him to one of the pits. Then we will say, Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams. But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life. And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood, throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him, that he might rescue him out of their hands to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors, that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat. And looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelite. Let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh. And his brothers listened to him. Then many a night traders passed by and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt. There's a few things that's weird about this story. Joseph's at home, his brothers are at work. Kind of reminds me of Jacob and Esau. Esau was always out, Jacob was always home. We wonder why Joseph wasn't out with his brothers. He's not part of the club, that's for sure. They couldn't speak peacefully with him. I think he must have automatically made himself a loner in mentality, but there may be some laziness. He's not out working the way he should. His father wants to send him out. He's 17 years old. It's interesting, as we think about this, his father's not going to see him for 20 years. After this goodbye, at 17 years old, his father's not going to see him for 20 years. He goes out and he's supposed to go and give a report about the brothers. He's the tattletale. He wants to make sure everything is in order. Now, Shechem comes back up in verse 17. And I think our author is doing something here. Remember a couple weeks, well a few weeks ago we talked about Shechem and how the Israelite sons raped that city. They devoured and destroyed that city. And here they are standing in front of where Shechem was talking to a man. Joseph is talking to a man in front of Shechem and he's safer at Shechem than he is with his own brothers. It's supposed to be startling. Shechem is gross. Shechem is scary. Shechem is a great embarrassment for all of Israel. Here he is standing in front of the city. They just pillage and rape. And he's safer there than he is with his own brothers. He goes on. He goes to Dauphin. And as they see him, he's not hard to miss. He's wearing a fancy coat. They see the coat coming. Here comes this dreamer. There's no hate. There's Joseph, our brother. Here comes this dreamer. And you can see the bitterness. You can see the anger that's welled up. Let's kill him. Let's see what comes of these dreams. Joseph has really hit a chord. He's really struck a nerve with his brother. So, they truly hate him to the point of murder. Let's kill him. Now, Let's look at the original plan. They're going to throw their brother in a pit. They're going to kill him. Then they're going to try to go back and tell the father an animal destroyed him. That seems simple enough. But what about every holiday when Jacob starts weeping because of his lost son? You see, This isn't just one sin. It's a gross, horrible sin. But this is going to set forth a pattern of sin, like a butterfly effect, like a huge wave of sins. This is going to start a pattern of sin. These lies, this anger that are going to ruin the family for years. Every time Joseph is mentioned, the brothers have to put their head down. They can't comfort their father. It's impossible to be the one that killed your brother and then comfort your father. It's impossible. This sin is going to ruin the family. The point there is that there is no simple sin. You cannot sin just once. Every sin will lead to more sin. Every lie will lead to more lies. And young children, if you start lying now, you're going to create in yourself a pattern that will destroy you. Be truth speakers. Believe the truth and declare the truth at all times. We see Reuben, he tries to restrain and rescue his brother. We see this in verses 21 and 23. He's the oldest. I assume that's why he wants to save his brother. He's not the most moral of the brothers. If we were to look back at chapter 35, 22, we would read this. While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it." He's not the most moral of the brothers. He doesn't come out looking squeaky clean, contrasted to the brothers. I think the reason he wants to save Joseph is because he's the oldest. He's the closest thing we have at this point to a kinsman redeemer. He's the oldest. He's the most responsible for his brother. He's the one who will have to answer to his father. So they listen to Reuben. They throw him into a pit without water. Probably a dry cistern. And at this point, it's probably worse for Joseph because he's going to die of thirst rather than die quickly. You see, there's two things that are referred to that bring about the brother's hatred. There's his dreams. They want to destroy the possibility of these dreams coming true. So they're going to kill this dreamer. Then there's a coat that symbolizes his special favor from his father. They tear it off of him. Do you think that was a friendly, easy tearing off? Can you imagine? They throw him to the ground and they just start ripping his coat off as violently as possible because they're not just trying to take his coat off. They're trying to hurt him. They want to kill him. Verses 25 and 28 really stand out the most to me. They sat down to eat. Where's the moral compass here? There's no grief whatsoever. There's no confusion about what they're doing whatsoever. They can sit down and recline at table as if everything just as normal. Only we don't have that annoying brother anymore. This is despicable. This is gross. They sit down to eat. And it gets worse. Judah. Yes, the same Judah who will be the great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather of Jesus. Judah says to his brother, what profit is it if we kill him? What profit, what do we get if we kill him? Let's think about the answer. What can we get out of this? What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother." He's our own flesh. This is halfway good reasoning. We shouldn't kill him. He's our brother. How about we shouldn't sell him into slavery. He's our brother. Reasoning has been destroyed here. Sin affects the way we think. Jealousy, envy, hatred, anger. It affects the way we think. Sin affects every part of us, so we can't even reason well. We see here the despicable brothers just caught up in their sin, not able to think. So, what do we have here, friends? Jealousy, envy, anger, and murder. We have to realize that these are the dangerous sins that reside in our own hearts. Apart from Christ, we will all be judged for these sins, just like they would be judged for sins apart from God's grace. Our hatred leads to anger and murder. Our jealousy leads to envy and covening, which leads to stealing. Here's the hard question for you today. Who are you envious of? I'm assuming you are envious of somebody, or you're not alive. Who are you envious of? Who do you look at and say, I wish it could be more like them? Who are you envious of? Are you envious of other parents? Other marriages? Other co-workers? Other co-laborers in the gospel? You see, we tend to be envious of those who are in our own sphere, in our own field. We're envious of those who are doing the same things we're doing and are like us. The brothers are envious of their brother. You see, friend, this is why I pray for other churches every morning. I want us first to remember the great kingdom work that's taking place outside, but it's also a way for me to discipline my own envy and my own jealousy. I get jealous and envious of other pastors. I talk to other pastors regularly, and I hear what God is doing in their church, and I say, I wish God was doing that in my church. I know it's sinful and I fight against it by praying proactively that God will do more for those churches. I don't want to be the only pastor in Charlottesville. That would be too much work. But I have to make myself remember, I need to be thankful for the brothers and sisters. I need to be thankful for the other great laborers throughout Charlottesville that I do get to fellowship with, that God is doing a special thing in their midst. You see, we typically are most envious of those who are most like us, who are in our own field. The way I fight against envying and being jealous of other pastors is by being thankful for them. I make myself thank God for them. And I trust that by doing that action, God will truly change my heart. And He does. I then not only thank God for the way He blesses them, I proactively say, bless them more. This is how we fight against jealousy and envy. We are all envious of others. And the envy comes from a lack of a divine perspective. God is the one that gives anything good. God is the one that gives everything you want to have in others. And what God has decided is that He would rather have them have it than you. And you have to be able to look up to God and say, God, You're good. God, You're wise. I thank you for the way you've given your gifts to the entire church so that we compliment one another. And I pray that you would continue to bless that brother or sister. And I pray that I will be open to the way you bless me. If you're not a Christian today, know that God is perfectly good. He's a perfectly good God and therefore He must perfectly judge sin. As a perfectly holy, just, and good God, He will punish sin. And He will punish every sin, every envy, every jealousy, every hatred, every lie. We will be under God's punishment. Here's the good news, friend. This is why we gather together. To hear the good news. Because we all come together as Christians, knowing we're sinners. God saves sinners. God has chosen to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to become like us in every way, except for all that sin, so that He could die in our place. Jesus Christ died on the cross so that when we believe in Him, God's wrath is poured out upon Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross, rather than on us. And then God gives us His righteousness. If you're not a Christian today, be afraid of this sin. Be afraid of that envy and that jealousy that reside in your heart and know that God will judge you for it. Know, most of all, that God will save you from it if you believe in Jesus Christ. One of the most amazing things about this story, as we haven't quite concluded yet, is that if we fast forward, we see that the brothers are about to kill their Savior. Joseph is going to save them from famine. Joseph is the one who's going to give them life. And what they're doing here is that they're about to kill their Savior. They're selling their Savior into slavery. This is amazing. The brothers are about to kill the only hope they have. And this is why Joseph is such a clear Christ figure in the larger story. He is mistreated. He is sold by those who are closest to him. And then he acts like Christ and forgives them. Even though he could justly not give them food. He could justly punish them as the ruler over all of Egypt. Joseph is very much the Christ figure here. As we look into the future. Here's when he's betrayed. Here's when he's dying on the cross. As we will see later, Joseph is a Christ figure because he forgives. Let's go to our last text, our last point. We need a redeemer who can accomplish his task. When Reuben returned to the pit and they saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said, the boy is gone. And I, where shall I go? Then they took Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe into the blood. And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, This we have found. Please identify whether it is your son's robe or not. And he identified it and said, It is my son's robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces. Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard. It's an interesting observation. The sons fooled Jacob with a garment. If you recall, Jacob fooled his father with a garment. We constantly see the pattern of bad fathering and bad parenting come back up among the patriarchs. Would that be a warning to us? The biggest point here is that Reuben had a plan. Reuben was going to save his little brother. Reuben wasn't able to. Reuben failed. We don't know where Reuben goes. Maybe eating was just so distasteful to him because he was trying to save Joseph. We don't know where Reuben goes, but when he comes back and his brother is gone, he's angry. Reuben was supposed to be his Redeemer. He was supposed to be the one who let him escape. He's supposed to be the one who delivers and redeems Joseph out of his almost sudden death. Friends, when we look at Reuben, we should be reminded of one thing. Our Redeemer does not fail. We have a big brother who does not fail. Our big brother knows everything that's going on. He always is in control. He has the power to do whatever he wants. Our big brother is Jesus Christ. He is God himself who has become man and he is able to redeem perfectly because he is perfect. Reuben failed to redeem his little brother. But as we, as brothers and sisters, as children of God, we get to look up to our big brother and know That our big brother doesn't fail. There's no more sure, steadfast anchor for our souls than Jesus Christ and His death on the cross, His resurrection, and His ascension to the right hand of the Father. There's nothing more sure, there's no power greater, there's no love more infinite than our big brother. The one true Son of God who allows us to come into God's presence. He accomplishes what He intends. And Jesus Christ has intended to save sinners. And if we have been allowed to know that great salvation, we can only rejoice and boast in Him. But again, friend, if you are with us and you do not know this salvation, if you do not know Jesus Christ, please talk to me now during the song, later after the service. Talk to another one of the deacons, one of the men taking up the offering. Don't leave this place without knowing this salvation. Without this salvation, you will continue in your sin. That sin will destroy you here on this life, and it will ultimately destroy you when you face a holy and just God. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, I pray that Your Holy Spirit We use what has been said to convict. I thank You, Lord, for the great salvation You've given us in Christ. Let us glory in our Redeemer, who canceled the power of sin and death. Let us glory in that great God, who became like us in every way to die for us. Let us glory in You, Because You are our only glory. Let us stop boasting in ourselves and other people wanting to be like them. Help us, Lord, to be a church that boasts in You. Help us, Lord, to be a church that's constantly seeking to experience Christ in one another by boasting of You. You alone are worth boasting in. You alone are worthy of all glory and praise. Speak to us, Lord. in our prayer. Amen.