Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 (3) - The Grace of God

Can I ask you now please to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, just continuing

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

through from where we finished last time.

1 Corinthians chapter 15, and we're looking at verses 9 to 11, but we can read from verse

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

3.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for

our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on

the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the

twelve.

Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still

alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me.

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted

the church of God.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace towards me was not in vain.

On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of

God that is with me.

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

Now, the early part of the chapter, you may recall that we looked at verses one and two,

which we entitled to the gospel.

That's really what he's dealing with there.

And then verses three to eight, the core of the gospel, where we find these four points

that we mentioned last time and took us our headings from verse three to eight, that this

gospel, the core of it being, as mentioned there, Christ dying for our sins.

Then he was buried.

Thirdly, he was raised on the third day, and then he appeared after his resurrection to

those folks that are mentioned there.

And tonight we're looking at essentially what he says in verse 10, the grace of God.

The grace of God is the main theme of what we're going to look at from these verses.

And God's grace, as you know, is so frequently mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his letters.

In fact, if you look through his letters, you'll find the word grace appearing over 80 times

in the letters of Paul.

Grace of God to him was central not only to his own experience, because this really is

his own experience that he's dealing with here.

It's his personal testimony.

He's talking here in personal terms and setting out the grace of God from his own experience.

But that grace of God, by which he came to be an apostle, by which he came to be a Christian,

first of all, is that which now is fundamental to the message of the gospel that he preaches.

God took him from being a persecutor, an opponent of the gospel, as he mentions here, to being

turned right around to be a proclaimer of the gospel and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Now, we can say that grace essentially means, if we want to really define it in just a few

words, which is difficult, but grace, the grace that Paul speaks of, the grace the Bible teaches

is the grace of God, we could say is God's undeserved favor to us.

God's undeserved favor, his goodwill, his favor, undeserved on our part, and nevertheless bestowed

by him to the extent that his people especially come to be saved by the grace of God.

That really, the question then arises, well, what is meant by the grace of God?

How can you see the grace of God at work?

Where can you detect the grace of God or see the meaning of grace in the lives of his people,

other than just what you read about on the pages of Scripture, which, of course, is our

starting point, as it always must be?

There's God's undeserved favor.

Well, you can see it in two things especially that I'm going to mention tonight.

First of all, it's grace to the unworthy.

It's grace to the unworthy.

It's God's undeserved favor to unworthy sinners.

And Paul mentions himself here as unworthy of the grace of God because he especially mentions

that he was, in fact, not just an opponent, but a persecutor of the church of God.

Not worthy to be called an apostle.

Not worthy of the grace of God that made me an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.

And that, in principle, applies to everyone who comes to know the grace of God savingly.

We come in response to that, in the knowledge that God gives us from that, to say, as Paul did here,

I was utterly unworthy of this grace that I received.

And as you look at it as grace to the unworthy, you begin then to see something of the nature

and the wonder and the luster of that grace.

And then you can follow that through in so many of the passages of Paul's writings especially.

We're going to mention a couple of them later in Ephesians, especially Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2.

But it's grace to the unworthy.

And secondly, the second main point we're going to raise and try and open up is that grace is…

The grace that brings salvation or has brought salvation.

And I'm using that as a definition from 1 Timothy…

From Titus, rather, chapter 2 and verse 11, which is how Paul describes this grace of God there.

The grace that brings salvation.

Chapter 2, verse 11 of Titus.

Where you find him saying there…

Sorry, chapter 2, verses 8 to 9.

Where you find the very same thing spoken of here as the grace that brings salvation.

Chapter 11…

Sorry, Titus chapter 1, verse 11.

Titus 1:11

The grace that brings salvation has appeared to all people.

And then he goes on to speak about that grace.

It's training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and so on.

But it's the grace that has appeared bringing salvation.

It's a grace that has carried salvation with its working, if you like, so that it comes to actually

result in the conversion and salvation of those whom God has taken into the benefits of His grace.

Oh, it's grace to the unworthy.

Now, you notice how Paul here speaks of himself.

He's mentioned the apostles there.

And then he speaks of himself as an apostle born in one untimely born.

Jesus also appeared to me.

Apostles, of course, were originally the twelve apostles.

And to be an apostle, one of the requirements of an apostle was that he was appointed.

They were appointed by Jesus.

But they were also eyewitnesses of the risen Jesus.

They needed to be eyewitnesses of Christ risen from the dead.

And that's why he mentions, one of the reasons he mentions in these verses,

that these people actually came to meet with Jesus or he met with them.

He mentions there Cephas, five hundred all at once, James, and then he mentions himself.

So, the requirement was you needed to see or be witness to the risen Christ and have met the risen Christ or seen him for yourself.

And Paul is saying, I was actually after the rest.

I didn't belong to that initial wave of apostles or disciples.

I came later.

I was, as he puts it here, as one who was untimely born.

It really means one who came into apostleships well after the rest.

They had already become apostles.

They had gone out with the gospel.

And he's saying, I was opposed to that gospel.

I was a persecutor of the church in which they were apostles by Christ's appointment.

Apostles by being witnesses of Christ's resurrection.

He had met with them, as it says there.

But I did too.

And he wants to demonstrate that strongly in his letter to the Corinthians and indeed somewhere in other parts of his letters as well.

Because for one thing, in Corinth, his credentials as an apostle were challenged.

There was a group of people in Corinth or surrounding areas there that did not accept his apostleship.

Did not accept his apostolic authority.

Questioned his apostleship.

And therefore questioned his right to teach as the other apostles taught.

And that's why in 2 Corinthians chapters 10 and 11 are pretty much taken up with Paul's defense of his apostleship.

2 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

And in chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians, you'll find him doing similarly as well.

So he needed to defend his apostleship, defend the fact that he had indeed come to be appointed an apostle by Christ, by meeting with the living Christ.

And of course, you know that he met with the living Christ on the way to Damascus.

On the way to, as he had it in mind, create further havoc in the church.

But then Jesus met him.

Jesus took hold of his life.

Jesus took him, as he says in Philippians, into his custody.

And having taken hold of him, having apprehended him, having taken him into his custody, having arrested him, if you like, to use the same terminology,

then Paul's life took an entirely different and new direction.

He became an apostle, a witness, a preacher of the gospel that he once despised.

And so that's what he's now setting out as the background to his apostleship as he comes to speak of it to the Corinthians.

But then he says,

I was unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.

And although this is specific to him as an apostle,

there is nobody in here tonight who has come to know the Lord

that will actually quibble with this in principle that you are unworthy of it.

If you've come to know yourself as a lost sinner,

and you've come to know the Lord as your Savior,

the one thing you will be persuaded of is that you are entirely unworthy of the grace that he showed to you.

Entirely unworthy of his salvation, of his taking hold of your life, of changing you,

however you want to look at it, this is what it amounts to.

I am unworthy to be called a Christian,

unworthy to be taken into salvation by this Jesus.

Because I too despised him.

I rejected his teaching.

I didn't want to actually have him reign over my life.

I didn't want to yield my life, my heart to him.

And not only must we confess that we are undeserving of his grace,

you have to go further than that.

Because the Bible takes us further than that.

Not just to say,

I'm unworthy of the least of your mercies, Lord.

You have to go and say,

I am actually worthy of being cast away from you forever.

If you've come to know yourself as a sinner,

and know something of the nature of sin,

the nature of your heart,

what is actually in your heart,

what is true of you as a sinner,

even if it's just to a little extent,

you can see in that the evil of sin,

the horrible thing that sin is,

the antagonism that there is in sin to God.

And therefore,

how worthy it would be of him to condemn you and I forever.

But that's not what happened.

I'm not worthy to be called an apostle.

I'm not worthy of salvation.

I'm not worthy to be taken into discipleship of Christ,

to be a follower of Christ.

In fact, I'm not just undeserving,

but I'm ill-deserving.

Deserving of the opposite

of what grace has brought into my life.

You see, if we think for a moment

that there's something in our lives

that has earned the grace of God,

that has deserved the grace of God,

then we've really redefined grace.

Because grace is only grace

because it's grace to the unworthy.

It's grace to those who are unworthy

of the least of it

and worthy of all its opposite

in God's condemnation.

And that's why Paul so frequently in his teaching

emphasizes for these Christians,

these churches that he went to teach,

that he went from place to place

to actually bring the gospel to them

and then teach them in the gospel

like the Corinthians.

That's why you so often find him

putting together side by side,

as contrast,

grace and works.

The grace of God,

the free grace of God,

and the works that we ourselves can do,

the works of the law,

the works of the flesh,

whatever way you tend to call it,

it's our own work,

it's our own DIY form of salvation.

Paul is saying,

that's impossible.

That's what attracts God's condemnation

because we are not able

to match or to meet

the demands or the standard of God.

It's all of grace.

And the one thing that's sure

about grace,

the grace which saves,

the grace which comes from God

to the unworthy,

is that it makes you humble.

If we know that people,

as we pray and hope,

are saved through our preaching,

if we know that God's people

are to some extent at least

built up in their faith,

in their following of Christ,

through our preaching of the gospel,

does that make us proud?

Does that make us feel proud?

Does that make us want to boast?

Well, it might within ourselves,

but that's not how it should be,

of course.

That doesn't make us feel proud.

If I've got any sense of grace at all,

and I see that that's what God uses me for,

there is nothing more humbling

than knowing that God uses such a person

as an unworthy sinner

to bring benefit to other people.

Grace humbles.

Grace humbles you in the presence of God

because through grace you come to realize

you're not worthy of the grace you receive,

that you're unworthy of anything

that grace carries into your experience.

So grace is grace to the unworthy.

But secondly, it's grace bringing salvation,

as we quoted from Titus 2, verse 11.

Titus 2:11

And there are three things in terms of grace

bringing salvation.

Just use that as our summary point, if you like,

but follow through in what Paul is saying here

about himself.

By the grace of God, I am what I am.

By the grace of God, I am what I am.

I'm no longer what I was as a persecutor,

as an unworthy sinner before God.

I received grace.

And what I am now, I have been made so.

I am so by His grace, by what His grace has wrought.

So what's the nature of this grace?

If it's grace to the unworthy,

if it's grace bringing salvation,

what does this grace actually look like?

What does it contain?

What is it about?

Let's see three things about it.

It's first of all, God's love in Christ.

This undeserved favor of God

is God's love in Christ for His people,

toward His people.

That's fundamental to the meaning of God's grace,

that it is God's love in action,

that it is God's love in Christ.

It's foundational to our redemption.

It's God's love to the unlovely,

to the undeserving,

and the unlovely as well.

Now let me just point you to Ephesians for a moment.

If you turn with me,

we're going to look at a couple of passages here

for our next few minutes.

Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 4 to 8.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

We'll come back to the early part of chapter 2 in a minute.

But in verses 4 to 8 of Ephesians 2,

look at what he's saying here.

But God being rich in mercy,

because of the great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in our trespasses,

He made us alive, or He quickened us.

He brought us to life together in union with Christ.

By grace you have been saved.

You see what that is saying?

The grace that you see,

the grace that has saved the apostle and saves God's people,

the grace by which we have been quickened and saved,

is a grace that's emanated from the love of God.

It's God's love in Christ to His people.

And then Ephesians chapter 1,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

look at verses 3 to 6.

That great statement,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us in Christ,

you see, in Christ,

with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

even as He chose us in Him

before the foundation of the world,

that we should be holy and blameless before Him.

In love He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ,

according to the purpose of His will,

to the praise of His glorious grace,

with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.

What a combination of terms.

He's saying it's the love of God

that has come to provide salvation for us.

It's the love of God,

the grace of God,

that has come to embrace us,

and indeed not only embrace us,

but in Christ has loved us from all eternity,

he's saying about God's people.

And it's not only in Christ,

but He calls Him in the Beloved.

You know, as a Christian tonight,

if you're a Christian,

if you're in Christ,

if you know the Lord,

if He's your Savior,

here's a most wonderful and beautiful emphasis.

He has loved you in the Beloved.

He has loved you in the Son of His love.

He has loved you not for what you were,

not for what He saw you,

not for what He saw you would come to be,

but for His sake.

He has loved you by His grace,

in His grace.

He has loved you freely.

He has loved you as one who is undeserving of it.

He has loved you in the Beloved.

And because He is the Beloved,

it has pleased God the Father

to love His people in Him,

to elect them in Him,

to choose them in Him,

to place them in Him,

and from all eternity

to make them candidates of redemption

in His own love,

by His grace.

And you see,

that's why we can say that God's…

Somebody actually once asked,

I think it was J.G. Voss,

one of the American theologians,

can you assure me

that God's love for His people

will never end?

And the response of the theologian was,

yes, I can.

I can assure you that God's love will never end

because it never began.

God's people were loved from all eternity

in the Beloved.

And because they were placed in the Beloved

from all eternity,

as the Beloved came into the world

and took their nature

and died for them

and rose again from the dead,

so they continue in the Beloved

to be regarded by God as His people,

not without them having come by faith

to trust in Him,

but this goes to the root of the matter.

He has blessed us in the Beloved.

It's God's love in Christ.

That's the grace of God,

the undeserved favor of God,

the love of God for His people.

Secondly,

the grace that brings salvation

is God's power in action.

God's love in Christ,

God's power in action.

Now, of course,

you have to join all of these together

because they're inseparably connected.

I'm just looking at them

in terms of distinct points,

but they really belong

to the same outworking of God's love.

The grace of God is God's power in action.

Back again to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

Look at what he says in verse 1.

You were dead in the trespasses and sins

in which you once walked.

You were dead,

spiritually dead,

in the trespasses and sins

in which you once walked.

And then skip ahead to chapter 2, verse 5.

Even when we were dead in our trespasses,

God made us alive

together with Christ.

Christ.

You see, it's God's power in action.

It's God's power coming to the dead.

It's God's coming to those dead

in trespasses and sins.

We stand so often, sadly,

at a graveside

or even to see a coffin

as we've been all too familiar with,

particularly in the last

two to three weeks here.

And as you see that coffin,

as you look into the grave

and the coffin is lowered into the grave,

one thought that should

absolutely be certain

in our minds is this.

That body of itself

can never live again.

The dead

cannot

themselves

come to life.

That body will live again

by the power of Christ

in His resurrection,

in the resurrection

from the grave

when it comes.

But in itself,

as you look at

what is dead,

it cannot come to life.

And that's the wonder

of God's grace.

It is the power of God

coming to that which is dead

and actually saying,

live.

And that which is dead

comes to life.

Even when we were dead

in trespasses,

He quickened us.

He brought us to life

in union with Christ.

The grace of God

is God's power.

And in that same chapter

in Ephesians,

it's the power that

from the love of God

works through

in the power of His grace.

The power of the Holy Spirit

to bring

His people to life.

And of course,

that's such an important

emphasis

and link with the main theme

of 1 Corinthians 15

because

it's a chapter

dealing with

the resurrection.

The resurrection of Jesus,

the resurrection of His people

in union with Him

to counteract

those who are saying

in Corinth

and trying to

lead people astray

to say there is no such thing

as resurrection.

And Paul is saying

as he leads towards that,

he's saying,

well,

this is true of my own life.

I know there's a resurrection

because I was brought

to life spiritually.

And to the Ephesians,

you were dead

in trespasses and sins,

but God brought you

to life spiritually

through the power

of His grace.

By grace,

you are saved.

that not of yourselves

as the gift of God.

You know,

we can yearn

for certain things

to happen.

We can

deeply desire

certain things

for certain people.

And as you see,

people

sometimes in desperate need,

your heart goes out

to them.

You wish you had

the resources

to help them.

And if you had

the resources

to help them,

you would certainly

do that,

whether it would be

financial or practical

or whatever.

You can see them

suffering in different

parts of the world

or even in their own

nation in difficult times.

You'd really want

to have the means

and the resources

and the wherewithal

to help them,

and you don't have them.

And it hurts you

that you can't

and you wish you had.

But that's the great thing

about God's grace.

It isn't just

that God,

as it were,

yearns towards

the salvation

of His people.

He has the resources.

Grace has the power.

Grace has the enabling

by which He brings us

spiritually to life.

Anything that God

intends by His grace,

His grace will

certainly accomplish.

And that's a wonderfully

comforting thing

for you tonight.

That as a Christian,

as somebody

who has begun

to follow Christ

or maybe been following

for many years,

and let's face it,

it's not just those

who are younger in the faith

that have doubts at times

or questions at times.

It comes to us all,

whatever stage we're at.

And maybe sometimes

in the later stages

of our Christian experience

and walk,

maybe it's then

more doubts come in

and more feelings

of weakness,

if you like,

come in

and more fears

than we had earlier on

in our Christian experience.

Well, God is saying,

if I've got you

in the custody of my grace,

if I've got you

in the safety

of my grace in Christ,

if you are indeed,

as you're saying,

under the power

of my grace,

what's going to stop that?

What's going to cause

the further advance

of your Christian walk

and experience

when the grace of God,

as Paul is saying,

by the grace of God,

I am what I am?

You can really say

that included in that,

you might say,

is Paul's conviction

by the grace of God,

I will be what I will be.

I will be what God

intends me to be.

I will be everything

He has promised me to be.

By the grace of God,

by the grace that is His love

in Christ,

that is His power

in action.

And that's why he goes on there

to say in verse 10

that the grace of God,

which was not in vain

towards me,

because he says,

on the contrary,

I worked harder

than any of them,

though it was not I,

but the grace of God

that is with me.

And commentators really

generally take it

that he means

all the other apostles

put together,

I worked harder

than them all

put together.

Now, is Paul boasting there?

Is he saying,

look at me,

I worked harder

than all of them

put together?

Of course,

he's not saying that.

What he's doing is saying,

it is not I,

but the grace of God

that is with me.

In other words,

the more he sees

of what God

has enabled him to do,

and even if he is

convinced that he has

worked harder

than all of them

put together,

he's not saying,

praise to me.

He's saying,

praise to grace.

Praise to the God

of grace.

Because Paul,

as a humble Christian,

is always concerned

to bring the glory

and the praise

to God.

He's not exalting himself,

he's exalting

his grace.

And you know,

the way

we often use

this kind of illustration,

if you have

a diamond ring,

and that diamond ring,

you want to see it

in all its brilliance,

what sort of background

do you put it against?

Not a background,

not a background

that's very sparkly

and shiny,

but a black background,

a black velvet cloth

on which you place,

or a box with

a black velvet lining

in which you place

this wonderful

diamond ring.

And it's the blackness,

the darkness

of the background

that makes

the luster

of the diamond

shine all the more brightly.

Well, that's what

Paul is doing.

I am undeserving

and worthy

to be called an apostle

because I persecuted

the church of God.

There's the dark background,

there's the black velvet

background of his life,

but by the grace of God

I am what I am.

The grace of God

shines in my life,

not because of me,

not because of my achievements,

not because of

what I now am,

but because of

who God is,

and because

what His grace is like,

and what His grace

has achieved.

It's grace

bringing salvation,

grace to the unworthy.

It's God's love in Christ.

It's God's power in action.

And thirdly,

finally,

it is God's kindness

in gifting,

gifting salvation to us.

Again,

you find that emphasized

the passages

we read from

in Ephesians,

in Ephesians 2,

Ephesians 2:8

verse 8 especially.

This is what He says,

He has raised us up with Him

when we were dead

in trespasses and sins.

And then He goes on to say,

For by grace

you have been saved

through faith,

and this is not

your own doing,

it is the gift

of God.

Grace

is always gifting.

The gift of God

is the gift of grace.

The grace of God

is the gifting grace.

The salvation

that we have

in Christ

is a gift of God.

We haven't earned it.

We haven't deserved it.

We haven't worked for it.

We can say

we didn't want it

until God showed us

our need of it.

It is His

gift to us,

a gift

to the unworthy.

I happened to give

my wife a present

at Christmas.

Not going to tell you

what it was,

but hope she liked it.

But I gave her

that gift

because in my estimation

she was worthy of it.

After all,

she has to look after me

day after day.

She was worthy of it.

I thought,

well,

she deserves this,

so this is my gift

to her.

But it's the very opposite

with God.

I can never come

before God and say,

just like the apostles

is emphasizing for us,

we can't come before God

and say,

your gift to me

is immeasurable,

but I deserved

some of it.

I deserved in a measure

something or what I have

of your salvation.

No, we come to God

and say,

I am unworthy of it.

I am not in the least

but deserving of it.

It is entirely

your gift to me.

Your free gift.

Your undeserved gift.

But Lord,

I am glad to receive it

and make it my own.

The fact that it is free

only makes it

all the more wonderful.

If we had anything

to do with it,

it would just spoil it.

If we in any way

measured at all

deserved it,

it just would not

be the same thing,

would it?

It wouldn't be a gift

really then at all.

It would be something

that we merited,

something God owed to us.

That's not how grace is.

And what a gift

He's given us.

A free gift.

Salvation in Christ.

What a gift.

He gave us His Son.

He gave us His Son

as a Savior.

He gave us exactly

what we required,

even if for most of our life

it wasn't what we thought

we needed.

Though it is what we need.

And what we need

is a Savior

that exactly

matches our condition

as sinners.

That exactly matches

what we are

under God's condemnation.

Someone who will rescue us.

Someone who will place us

in a favored relationship

with God.

He gave us Jesus.

He gave us a Savior.

He gave us this free gift.

What a gift.

What kindness.

What love.

What amazing grace.

How sweet

it's sound.

And that John Newton

who wrote that

hymn, Amazing Grace,

near the end of his life,

well, he took these words

of Paul from our text

tonight in 1 Corinthians 15.

And this is what he

said in his confession.

I am not what I ought to be.

That's what you're saying

tonight, I hope.

And I hope I'm saying it

as well.

I am not what I ought to be.

I should be better

than I am.

I should be a better

Christian than I am.

I should be more faithful

to God than I am.

I should be more

zealous to God.

I should be more

holy than I am.

That was his testimony.

I am not

what I ought to be.

I am not

what I want to be.

He wanted to be better

than he saw himself

at the time.

And that's how you are

surely too.

Because however good

you are tonight,

however far advanced

you are on the Christian way,

however much you've

learned of Christ,

however much you value

him, however much you

love him and worship him,

you still hope to be

more than you are tonight.

You're not what you

want to be,

or what you hope to be,

yet when it comes

to your ultimate salvation.

But, he said,

I'm not what I ought to be.

I'm not what I want to be.

I'm not what I hope to be.

But still,

I am not what I used to be.

See, there is grace,

amazing grace.

I'm not what I used to be,

he said.

And by the grace of God,

I am what I am.

And that's the same

John Newton,

who in that amazing hymn,

in that hymn,

Amazing Grace,

wrote these words

as one of the verses.

Through many dangers,

toils,

and snares,

I have already come.

Tis grace has brought me safe

thus far,

and grace

will bring me home,

will lead me home.

The grace of God,

the love of God in Christ,

God's power in action,

God's kindness

in gifting us

salvation in Christ.

Grace

to the unworthy.

Let's pray.

Lord, our God,

we thank you

for the grace

that enables us

to confess our unworthiness,

the grace that has brought us

to see ourselves

as we truly are.

O Lord, our God,

we pray that

by your grace

we may continue

to grow

in the grace

and in the knowledge

of our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ.

And we pray tonight,

O Lord,

that our desire

may be intensified

to be more like himself.

And we pray

that as we pray

these things,

we may be conscious too

of how to be like him

means that we

will take to ourselves

whenever your will decides

that we will need

to face challenges,

suffering,

loss, deprivation,

pain,

perhaps even persecution.

But Lord,

we give thanks

that your whole package

of experience

for your people

is but the outworking

of your grace for them.

And within your own

great program

of salvation

and sanctification,

O grant us grace,

we pray,

to be willing

to leave our life

in your hands

and to be willing

to accept you

as our Lord and Savior

each and every day.

Receive our thanks

for your grace,

for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Let's conclude

our worship tonight,

singing Psalm 63.

Psalm number 63,

that's on page 295.

verses 1 to 5,

Psalm 63.

Lord thee,

my God,

I'll early seek,

my soul doth thirst

for thee,

my flesh longs

in a dry,

parched land

wherein no waters be,

that I thy power

may behold

and brightness

of thy face,

as I have seen thee

heretofore

within thy holy place.

Since better is thy love

than life,

my lips thee praise

shall give.

I in thy name

will lift my hands

and bless thee

while I live.

Even as with marrow

and with fat

my soul shall filled be,

then shall my mouth

with joyful lips

sing praises unto thee.

These verses in conclusion.

Amen.

For thee,

my God,

I will be to see,

my soul doth thirst

for thee,

my flesh longs

in a dry,

parched land

wherein no waters be,

that I thy power

may behold

and brightness

of thy face,

as I have seen thee

here to fall

within thy holy place.

hallsequently While thou play

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onto thy glory

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In a swift marrow and with heart, my soul shall thrill it be.

Then shall my mouth with joyfulness sing praises unto thee.

I'll go to the main door now after the benediction.

Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always. Amen.

Amen.