Reformed Baptist Church in O'Fallon, Missouri
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Life and Death in Christ Part 1

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Philippians 1:19–26

How’s everyone doing? All right, good to see you all. Let’s turn to the book of Philippians, chapter 1.

…this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

(Philippians 1:19–26)

Opening Prayer

Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you that we can gather this morning. We can celebrate new births that have occurred, God. We pray for the moms and the dads and those kids, Lord, that they would grow up to know you, to serve you, to love you, to fear you, God. We pray, Father, that you would bless the upcoming play. Just let everything go smoothly. Let the kids learn their lines. We pray that they would have a good time fellowshiping with one another, Lord. We pray the gospel will go out each night of the play in the fullness of the Spirit. And Lord, thank you for your word. It is truly a lamp unto our feet, God. So may we be in it, may we be studying it, may we be reading it, may we be meditating on it. And Lord, we pray for our brothers and sisters across the world, Lord, as they gather today, may they as well worship you. Continue to sanctify your church throughout this world, God, that it would become more and more and more and more like your Son. Do that here too, Lord, in this church, in Liberty Church, that you would sanctify us. It’s not always fun. It’s not always pleasant, Lord. But our heart as believers, our heart as your children, is to be conformed to the image of your Son. So continue to work your sanctifying Spirit in us and through us day by day, for your glory. Amen.

Know That You Are Mortal

All right, so as you know in Philippians, the situation is that Paul is in prison, and he’s waiting to find out if he’s going to live or die. And so I want us to notice, for actually about six verses, he kind of contrasts life and death. So look with me back in Philippians. Notice what he says beginning in verse 20. At the very end he says, “with full courage now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” All right, so you’ve got life, you’ve got death. Very next verse, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Again, contrast, right? Verse 22, “For if I am to live in the flesh,” there’s the first part, live in the flesh, “that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ.” So, depart and be with Christ. He even mentions two there, right? I mean, there’s two options. Then, going on, he says, “But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” Now, at that point, he doesn’t actually say what the contrast is, but remain in the flesh as opposed to leave the flesh. And then again, in verse 25, “I know that I will remain and continue with you all.” Again, he doesn’t state specifically the opposite, but that would be depart and not continue with you all. But here’s what the Holy Spirit wants to emphasize to us today. You get both. You get life, and one day, you will get death. You know when you get life? Well, that’s the day of your birth, right? God’s been gracious. If you are breathing and you can understand what I’m saying, like you’re blessed. You’re blessed. God’s given you life. What about death? I mean, it’s just a matter of time, right? Okay. Hebrews 9, it says, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” All right. So a couple points I want to make for us today. First, know that you are mortal. Know that you are mortal. You have a beginning on this earth and you have an end on this earth. You will die someday. Look at Psalm 39. Psalm 39, verse 4:

O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather.

(Psalm 39:4–6)

Why do we want to know the measure of our days? So that we realize there’s a brevity to it. I mean, you read this little passage, notice what it’s like: oh, we’re just like a shadow. James, the book of James, says something similar. Our life is like a mist. Right? Here today, gone tomorrow. So repeatedly, the Bible puts an emphasis on realizing, like, hey, our time on this earth is actually pretty short. But what’s the point after that? Make the use of the time, and realize someday you’re going to have to stand before God and account for that little life that you’ve lived. So do something now while you can. Today, the Bible says today a whole lot. You know, today, today, today. Well, today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to live for the Lord. Today is the day to trust [audio unclear] the psalm with that idea, right? You’re like, oh, we’re going to go to this city or we’re going to do that. He’s like, no, you don’t know. We have to say, if the Lord allows, if the Lord wills, then we can do those things. Why? Because every single day is in the hands of the Lord. Look at Psalm chapter 90. Psalm 90, verse 12: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Teach us to number our days. Both verses, this one and the one in Psalm 39, that passage emphasizes who we are, we’re mortal, but it also emphasizes who God is. You know, here we are little and God is way big. He is eternal.

It’s interesting, in Roman times, anytime there was a great victory, the general, sometimes the emperor, but the general would come in after having led the army out, and they’d have this, you know, cheering for him. Their appointed task for this slave was to be in the chariot behind him, you know, right next to him, whispering in his ear the whole time, memento mori, “Remember you will die.” Why was that? To keep them humble, right? Like, you’re Rome, the great power of the age at that time, so yeah, it’d be pretty easy to get puffed up, and yet even the Romans realized, hey, we need to remind us and remind our generals, hey, life is but a moment. So this should impact how we live, brothers and sisters, when we realize our mortality, that we’re not guaranteed tomorrow, then that means we need to make the best use of the time that we have. Ephesians talks about it, right? Make the best use of the time, for the days are what? Evil. The days are evil. We don’t know what they hold. We only have so many days. Look at Luke 12. Jesus tells a parable here in Luke 12. He told them a parable, verse 16:

The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

(Luke 12:16–21)

So this parable, I think of that sometimes when they’re like, when these millionaires and these billionaires are like, oh, we’re tearing this down and we’re building something better. I’m like, they’re going to get a lot more money doing that. I mean, that’s the reason they’re doing it. But I think of this parable. Like, they don’t know what lies ahead for tomorrow for them. In fact, in the news recently, a billionaire died. Guess how he died? A little tiny bee flew in his mouth and stung him. Apparently, that’s very dangerous. It doesn’t feel good to get stung on the outside. Apparently, it’s really bad if he gets stung on the inside. It ended up killing him. Like, he didn’t wake up that day thinking that. He looked relatively young, like he was in his 40s or 50s or something. We’re not guaranteed tomorrow. And so sometimes, and we have to be careful, and I was kind of thinking this to myself, like, well, I always think about, well, they need to think about that parable. No, I need to think about that parable, right? Like the parable isn’t really for those people. It’s for us. It’s for me. How does it apply to me? What is the Lord trying to say to me through this passage, right? What’s the truth there? We always want to be like, you know, I wish this person would read this verse, and this person read that. No, the verse is for us. What do we need to do? So we need to make sure. Like, oh, we got plenty of time. We got plenty. At some point, usually the older you get, you start to realize even more your mortality. When you’re young, you think you’re invincible, and you can do all sorts of stupid crazy stuff. You don’t always get away with it, though. Young people die. Young people get diseases. Young people get in car accidents and die. Like we are not guaranteed tomorrow. Believers aren’t guaranteed, unbelievers aren’t. We live in a fallen world where bad things happen. So we only have so many days, we need to make the use of those days. We need to come before the Lord and realize, like, our life is in his hand. And at any moment, he could decide to take away that breath of life. He can do that. It’s his to give, it’s his to take away. So realize and know that you are mortal.

Know That You Are Immortal

But also, and this is important, know that you are immortal. This world is not all that there is. Look at 1 Corinthians 15, verse 53: “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” There is a world to come, brothers and sisters. We need to make sure we’re prepared for it. Look at Romans 6, because Paul brings it out really well in Romans. So, Romans 6:22: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” So what have we been set free from? Sin, right? So let’s make sure we’re living like that. And we’ve become slaves of what? Yeah, slaves of God, of Christ. Right? We’re going to be a slave of sin or we’re going to be a slave of God. And what does it say? The fruit you get leads to sanctification. Right? So God’s doing a work in your life and you’re getting sanctified. What does that mean? You’ve been set apart, but sanctification is an ongoing practice. It’s actually an initial thing and it’s actually ongoing. The Scriptures actually use it sometimes in the past tense, but usually more so in an ongoing present tense. So the fruit you get leads to sanctification. God’s done a work in you and he continues to do that work. And because you have the Spirit, because you have a new nature, you can say no to sin. You can do what the unbeliever can’t do. You can say no to sin. You can choose righteousness. The unbeliever can’t do that. They can choose many good things. They can’t choose righteousness. Every single day, the unbeliever breaks the greatest commandment. Every single day, every single minute they’re alive, every single breath they take: love the Lord your God. [audio unclear] And what’s the end? It tells us eternal life. And then it goes on, verse 23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Does it matter that you’re mortal? Yes, most definitely.

Building What Lasts

And here’s the, brothers and sisters, we’re building on something. Each one of us, we’re building on something. [audio unclear] He builds upon it:

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

(1 Corinthians 3:11–15)

I mean, what’s this saying? I mean, you can be saved, but you’re actually doing the works of like the wood, the hay, and the straw. It’s going to be burned up someday. It’s not very helpful. Literally not lasting into eternity. But if you’re building with what? The precious stones, the gold and the silver, it’s going to be tested, those works, and they last. Now, in either case, the person’s saved, right? It even says that. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, right? So it’s possible for a person to go through their life and not really be walking that well with Jesus. They’re walking with him, but not very well. Not very well. They’re going to walk into heaven, and the things they have done will be tested, and it’s not going to last. Now, listen, I don’t want that for you. I don’t want that for me. We need to make sure we’re building with the gold, with the silver, with the precious stones. How do we do that? We build that which will last, which impact this world and carry on into eternity. It is, and I mean it’s kind of like Philippians, you know, putting others’ interests above your own. It’s a true humility, not a false humility. Nations are important, churches are important, families are important. Why? Because God established each one of them, right? I mean, he established the nations, yes? And the capital-C, like the universal church. And he also established families. Even if you think about it, like your marriage, your family has an impact now, but will also echo into eternity.

I forget how we got onto the topic, but we were sitting around with the family last night. We actually have a book on the genealogy of, I don’t know, however you say it, my lineage. It goes back to 1704, all the way to England. And it’s a book that I think was my grandfather’s brother, you know, did all the research, put it together, and he bound it in a book. And you can go and see every one, all the way down for the last however many years that is, you know, 300-plus years. And probably that guy, you know, way back at the beginning, what was he thinking? He really wasn’t, I don’t know, he probably wasn’t thinking that someday I’d be standing up here, right? True. But he was building something. He was building, hopefully he was building with the gold and the silver and the precious stones. At least, hopefully there’s a little nugget up here of gold or silver or something. But the point is, families are very important. They’re very important. So sometimes we just think, oh, we’re just building for our kids. No, you’re building like a legacy of generations to come. And so, you know, my dad just had one brother, and so my uncle, my dad’s brother, had three kids. But those three kids have, I think, like a total of, I want to say something like 20 kids, right? And then now there’s Grant, and so now then they had kids, right? And just on that one little line of my uncle, I think there’s like 35 or 40 people. It’s pretty crazy. To the best of his knowledge and the best of mine, like all of them are walking with Jesus. That’s pretty cool. That came about from my aunt and uncle. They would admit they weren’t always perfect. They didn’t always do the greatest, but like prayer, trusting the Lord, walking with him. I mean, that is something to be proud of. That’s something to be proud of, right? So, and even like the family is formed in Genesis 2. Here’s how chapter 2 ends: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” That’s the end of chapter 2. So God makes a statement on what marriage is, like that’s what you hear in weddings. That’s like our definition of marriage: leave and cleave, one-flesh union, covenant before the Lord. So there’s Adam and Eve, perfect in the garden, right? Unstained by sin. What happens in Genesis 3? It’s the very first verse: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field.” God brings the family together, and what does Satan immediately try to do? Attack it, right? Immediately strikes. Do you think things have changed thousands of years later? Have they? No, Satan’s out to get you. He’s out to get your family. He’s out to get your kids. He knows the impact that families have. He knows, so he wants to destroy the family. So he immediately attacks it. He’s been doing it ever since. How many of you have been married less than 10 years? All right, less than five years? Okay, listen, young marriage, it’s like grape juice. Properly cultivated, it matures into fine wine. Right? But what happens if you don’t get that. [audio unclear]

It’s not just for the benefit, it is, but not just, it’s for the benefit of our kids, and not just for the benefit of them, for their kids, and their kids, and their kids, and their kids. So yeah, regardless of whatever situation you might have come from, or your family history, you can be the one that starts a biblical lineage. Don’t make excuses for what happened in the past, you can start it now. Your line can be one that stands firm for the truth and passes that faith down for generations to come. You know, we talk about, you know, families. I’m quoting from another pastor here, but there’s different family systems. These will sound familiar to you once I start describing them. That some families, there’s basically three, some are like enmeshed systems, where everyone’s emotions are interconnected and enmeshed. And in these systems, the least healthy person in the family controls the family. Because to keep from hurting their feelings, keep them from throwing a tantrum, or keep them from leaving. Right? Think about the stereotypical mother who makes the whole family’s Thanksgiving miserable because no one is allowed to draw clear boundaries with the abusive alcoholic son. Right? He’s family, he might not come back if you hurt his feelings. That’s an enmeshed system. Then you have cut-off systems. Nobody cares about each other. The rules are extremely rigid. Cruelty toward one another is normal. And if you break the rules, you’re out. Think about the angry abusive dad that’s constantly threatening to cut the kids off. [audio unclear] What’s that? That’s where families love each other, but they draw clear and healthy boundaries to guard the health of the family. If you want to opt out, we love you so much, but we obviously can’t let you ruin the whole family’s holiday. Healthy relationships without excessive needing each other or excessive isolation. Listen, you’re building one of those three. You’re building one of those three. Build that which leads to life. That which encourages life. Why? Because that’s a statement. That’s a statement to your kids. That’s a statement to your extended family. It’s a statement to the world about who Christ is for you.

Do Not Be Threatened by Death

Going on. Don’t be threatened by death. Death is no threat to the believer. Here’s what it says in 1 Corinthians 15:

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

(1 Corinthians 15:54–56)

Right, death, where is your victory? Does death have a victory? Not ultimately. We might think sometimes like that, but not for the believer. There’s no victory for death. Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, it says. And the power of sin is the law. Listen, brothers and sisters, each one of us is going to die someday. So you’re either going to, in this room, very likely, you’re either going to go to everyone else’s funeral or they’re going to come to yours, or there’s going to be some combination. True. Right? I mean, if we’re covenanting together, if we’re doing life together, that’s what it’s going to look like. All right? And I might be doing your funeral. [audio unclear] Do we really believe that? Do we really believe death is gain? Because it is. I mean, we either believe the Scriptures or we don’t. Here’s Paul, I mean, we don’t know how old he is, but here he is, maybe, you know, I don’t know, I’m just guessing. He’s got some life ahead of him, so it’s not like he’s like in his 70s and, you know, just going along with the little cane or something, he’s like, oh, finally the end. No, to live is Christ and to die is gain. We need to believe that. We should not let death threaten us. Death is gain. So that means, one, we need to trust him with our life, our whole life, our physical, our soul, all of it. Trust him with our salvation, but trust him with our death, in a sovereign God. But that should affect our attitude and demeanor. Look what he says in verse 19. Right before that, actually verse 18, he ends verse 18. He says, “and in that I rejoice,” talking about like Christ is proclaimed, verse 18, “and in that I rejoice.” Then he goes on, and it’s really the start of the next sentence, but it’s still part of 18: “Yes, and I will rejoice.” So thinking about that, he changes from the present tense, I rejoice, to the future tense. What’s he communicating? He is going to rejoice regardless of the outcome of his trial. I will rejoice. I mean, he’s very clear, hey, I don’t know if I’m going to get out of this or not. I don’t know if I’m going to make it or not. But what’s his attitude? I will rejoice. I will rejoice. That needs to be our attitude. [audio unclear]

…more than they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

(Luke 12:4–7)

Now I want you to notice something here. I bet some of you, maybe most of you, have missed it before. He’s telling us, don’t fear, don’t fear man essentially, right? Like he can kill the body. “Do not fear those who kill the body,” right? So people, after that, have nothing more they can do. “But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell.” Who is he saying to fear? God, right? I mean, he’s the only one that can do that. But then he goes on and he talks about, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies, and not one of them is forgotten before God? Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” What’s his point? Like he knows intimate details about you. He’s definitely vested in your life. And then note, what does it say? Fear not. Fear not. So there’s a proper place, what we would call like a biblical fear. A lot of times it’s misunderstood, but there’s the idea of awe and wonder. But I’d also say trepidation. There’s also happiness and joy. But think of Moses on Mount Sinai. I mean, he’s in the presence of God. And I mean, is he like flippant at all? No. I mean, he’s like, yo, what’s up, Yahweh? Not at all. What’s his reaction? He falls on his knees. You look throughout the Old Testament prophets when they describe heaven or an appearance, whenever there’s a theophany in the Old Testament, appearance of God, right? What do people normally do? I mean, they’re falling on their face. Why? Because they realize they’re in the presence of greatness, and that’s the only reaction that they can have. Even if you thought about some popular person that somehow it worked out, you got to hang out with them, insert whoever your favorite popular person is, and they’re for whatever reason coming over to your house. I mean, you’d be excited, but you’d be nervous, right? You’d be looking forward to it, but you might hope this goes well. Well, how much more so with the King of the universe, right? You’re going to meet him one day. You’re going to fully be in his presence entirely and completely. The Scriptures show us what our reaction is. But also notice here, so there is a proper place for biblical fear, but the only one we would fear is the Lord, properly understood. Because he tells us in verse 7, fear not. So God has us. God has us. It’s not a matter of if you’ll die, but when you’ll die, and you’re going to die, it’s just a matter of time. Well, what are you going to do? Well, you’re going to lean on the Lord. You’re going to rely on him. You’re going to trust in him. You’re going to walk with him. You’re going to build that which will last. You’re going to put his kingdom first. “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.” So God’s word is true. He is not going to let you down. He will fulfill every single promise that he has ever made. He’ll fulfill it. Each single one. Romans 3, verse 4: “Let God be true though every one were a liar.”

God Does Not Give Up on Us

[audio unclear] truth. It shouts out truth. It is true. Many have tried to challenge it. It’s true. There’s this seemingly plain verse in Nehemiah: “They went up onto the wall at the Fountain Gate, and they went up the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.” You know, until 2005, David’s palace in Jerusalem hadn’t been found. But that year an archaeologist read that verse in Nehemiah, that verse that had been written about 2,400 years earlier. He used the specificity of the details to try to figure out, okay, well, then if that’s true, then David’s palace should be right around here. He started digging and he found it. This verse, it doesn’t really, we probably just have read that different times at different places, hasn’t really meant that much. But even something like that. [audio unclear]

And we want bite-sized Bible studies, bite-sized sermons, bite-sized friendships, bite-sized theology, and then we wonder why we’re never satisfied. It’s because we’ve been eating a little tiny bag of chips, you know, like the one they give you on the airplane. I mean, I don’t even think they bother telling you how many calories are on them because you don’t really even gain any. It takes more energy to chew the stuff. I mean, it’s just bite-sized, right? And we live in a time when the teacher is expected to make everything easy to understand. Is that how Jesus taught? I mean, think about it. I mean, he taught in parables. He made things difficult on purpose. He even gave riddles. Why do you suppose that was? I mean, the Scriptures talk about why, right? So seeing they don’t see, hearing they don’t hear. Like, how bad do you want to know? Even the disciples, right? Like they’re clueless a lot of the time. You know, there’s that one story where it says the disciples reached the other side, Matthew 16. They had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And how did they take it? I guess he’s upset because we didn’t bring any bread. And what is Jesus? I mean, he probably didn’t do like a face palm. But I mean, he’s just like, guys, come on. Seriously? He’s like, it’s a metaphor. I’ve used them once or twice already. I mean, they’re pretty dense, right? They’re pretty dense. But he said things. Why? Because he wanted them to kind of think a little bit. They were challenged to do so, but he wanted them to think. Hey, do you really want to know the meaning of the Scriptures? Then yes, some parts of it are a little more challenging to understand. The simplicity of how to get saved? Crystal clear. Even Peter, in 2 Peter, is like, and Paul’s writing, and some of that is a little bit challenging. Well, yeah, it is. But there are learned minds that have made and opened some of that up and explained some of it. And we can dig in. If you want gold, you’ve got to go past the surface. True? If you want gold, you have to go past the surface.

And brothers and sisters, here’s the good news. God doesn’t give up on us. He doesn’t give up on us. Here’s what it says in Jeremiah 7:25: “From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I…” There’s a Hebrew expression there that actually occurs a few times in Jeremiah’s writing. And instead of “persistently I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets,” its literal translation is “daily rising early.” “Daily rising early.” So: “From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have daily risen early, sending all my servants the prophets to you, day after day.” I mean, it’s like the Lord, you know, he wakes up—he doesn’t wake up. But he, like, the day starts and he’s like, I guess they need another prophet. Time to send another one, and hopefully they’ll listen. But why didn’t he just like wash his hands? I mean, how many prophets did he send? A lot. Why didn’t he just wash his hands of this rebellious people? Well, the short answer is this. He has a hesed love for his people. He has that steadfast love for his people. So he’s not going to wash his hands. Thank the Lord, right? Praise him that he doesn’t give up on us. Even when we are faithless, it says what? He is faithful. So he is patient and long-suffering. He wants us back with him. What does he say? “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?” And then Paul said, that’s Ezekiel, Paul says that God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. So prophet after prophet after prophet after prophet after prophet, right? And some listened, but many didn’t. But if you’re a believer, like you listened to the great Prophet, Jesus, the one that Moses talked about all the way back in Deuteronomy 18. And here he comes, right? And lays down his life for us. And what do we have? Well, we have eternal life. Why? Because of what Jesus did. He merited it for us. [audio unclear] So we can walk in confidence, knowing, hey, he’s got all of us completely, entirely. We can walk without fear, knowing that yes, our days are numbered, and thankfully he’s the one that numbers them. He numbers them. He knows our days. We can walk in confidence and we can work on a foundation, working with gold and silver and precious stones, knowing that he will make it last. There’s no labor in vain if you’re doing it in the Lord for his glory. Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we do thank you. We thank you for our mortality. We thank you for our immortality. We thank you that, Lord, you never gave up on your people throughout the history of time, and time and time again you were gracious to call. Lord, it says that the righteous stumble seven times and get back up. Lord, let us continue to be your children who walk listening to your voice, listening to what you have to say to us, that we would walk knowing our days are numbered, knowing that our life is in your hand, and because of the one who is sovereign over the affairs of men. Continue, Lord, to be gracious and kind. We know that you will continue to walk with us, continue to sanctify us, continue to bring about [audio unclear]