Guarding the Heart: Why Christ Alone is Enough

• Graduation Celebration [00:09:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker announces and honors three graduates (Ryan Keller, Allison Nesbitt, Hartman Smith), detailing their schools and future plans, and leads a prayer for them.
• Confession and Grace [00:16:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > A corporate confession of sin acknowledging human dependency on God's unmerited favor and mercy, followed by a prayer for the Holy Spirit's empowerment.
• Prayers of the People [00:25:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > Intercessory prayers covering offerings, grieving members, healing for Pastor Mark, church school needs, global conflicts (Ukraine/Iran), government leaders, and the Guatemala mission team.
• Sermon Introduction and Anecdote [00:33:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The substitute speaker introduces the sermon, shares a personal story about preaching in seminary under Jim Shaddix, and begins an illustration about difficult neighbors.
• Spiritual Protection through Joy in Christ [00:47:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that rejoicing in the Lord provides safety because a heart satisfied in Christ is less vulnerable to counterfeit gospels and worldly temptations.
• The Danger of 'Dogs' and Evildoers [00:40:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > Referencing Philippians 3, the pastor warns believers to watch out for spiritual dangers ('dogs') that attack the soul, contrasting them with the safety found in Scripture.
• Spiritual Nourishment vs. Hunger [00:52:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using the analogy of sheep, the pastor explains that spiritual hunger leads to vulnerability, while feeding on God's word provides the 'armor' and satisfaction needed for defense.
• Spiritual Nourishment and Protection [00:51:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that feeding on God's word protects the soul from spiritual attack, using the analogy of sheep being vulnerable when hungry.
• The Danger of False Teachers (Judaizers) [00:55:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies 'dogs' and 'evildoers' as Judaizers who added legalistic requirements to the gospel, warning that they are 'hounds of hell' seeking to divide the church.
• Sola Fide / Salvation by Grace Alone [00:58:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the 'God plus something' theology of the Judaizers with the true gospel that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone.
• True vs. False Circumcision [01:06:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between the physical circumcision demanded by Judaizers and the spiritual 'circumcision of the heart' performed by the Holy Spirit.
• Marks of a True Believer [01:09:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor outlines three marks of genuine faith: worshiping by the Spirit, glorying in Christ Jesus, and putting no confidence in the flesh.
• Sola Fide / Salvation by Grace Alone [01:10:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that confidence rests entirely in Christ's life, death, and resurrection, not in religious effort or 'the flesh,' contrasting Christianity with other religions that require human effort.
• Critique of Legalism/Judaizers [01:12:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies 'dogs' (false teachers/Judaizers) who add requirements to the gospel, using the phrase 'Jesus plus this' to describe false gospels and citing Paul's rejection of adding circumcision or other works.
• The Sufficiency of Christ's Work [01:14:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes that Christ's work is 'finished' and complete, requiring no human assistance to 'chip it up onto the green' or 'tap it in,' contrasting this with the 'performance treadmill' of other religions.

• Sermon Illustration [00:33:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The speaker recounts a seminary experience where he had to preach through Philippians in a weekend under strict time limits (20 minutes), noting that he didn't finish his sermon but passed the class. He then begins a story about having 'interesting neighbors' who complained about his trampoline and lawn mowing.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a story about difficult neighbors who complained about everything (trampoline, lawn, kids, dogs), leading to a confrontation where his pit bull mix was attacked by a German Shepherd, prompting him to kick the other dog.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of sheep being vulnerable when hungry, explaining that spiritual hunger leads believers to seek satisfaction elsewhere, making them targets for the enemy.
• Sermon Illustration [00:51:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of sheep being most vulnerable to wolves when hungry, illustrating how spiritual hunger leads believers to seek satisfaction elsewhere, making them vulnerable to the enemy's attacks.
• Sermon Illustration [00:55:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about never seeing a 'Beware of Dog' sign in any church foyer over 30 years, noting that the church in Philippi was the one that most needed such a warning.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the cultural context of dogs in Israel as unclean animals eating scraps, which Paul repurposes as an insult against the Judaizers, contrasting it with Jesus' teaching that uncleanness comes from the heart, not external things.
• Sermon Illustration [01:03:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor quotes Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who described the Judaizers as 'the cutters' who not only cut the flesh but sought to cut the church of God into pieces.
• Sermon Illustration [01:12:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a golf analogy to explain the absurdity of adding human works to Christ's salvation. He describes a scenario where Jesus tees off (accomplishes salvation), and a human tries to 'chip it up onto the green' or 'tap it in,' illustrating that adding religious performance to the finished work of Christ is ridiculous. He also references Tiger Woods to illustrate that if Paul (the ultimate religious resume) couldn't earn salvation, no one else can.

• Pastoral Charge [00:12:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > Give to the church's scholarship funds to support young adults.
• Pastoral Charge [00:42:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for the Holy Spirit to empower the congregation and press the sermon's message onto their hearts.
• Pastoral Charge [01:09:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > Self-examination of one's spiritual life against the marks of a true believer.
• Pastoral Charge [01:22:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray with the pastor
• Pastoral Charge [01:24:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > Repent, turn away from self-righteousness, and cling to the cross for salvation

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:09:09] Well, good morning Trinity family. It's good to be in the house of the Lord this morning, isn't it?
[00:09:14] All right, awesome. Well, today is a special day. Today is a day where we set aside, typically the last Sunday in May, to celebrate our graduates, celebrate our high school graduates, celebrate our college graduates. And today, as you'll see in your bulletins, we actually have three graduates that
[00:09:33] we will honor and that we will celebrate together. They are going to come up here one at a time. I'm I'm going to announce them, tell you where they graduated from, where they're going.
[00:09:44] Pastor Robert is going to hand them a gift.
[00:09:48] And then they will walk down here, and we will pray over them as they head into their next journey in life.
[00:09:54] And so I'm really thankful to be at a church that invests into our youth, invests into both our high school graduates and our college graduates.
[00:10:02] I'm super thankful to be at a church that you guys invest and care about our young people.
[00:10:07] And so without further ado, I'm going to announce our high school graduate, which he could not actually be here today, but we'll celebrate him and we'll clap him on from afar.
[00:10:20] But Ryan Keller is our one high school graduate this year.
[00:10:24] He graduated from South Rowan High School.
[00:10:29] He is going to be attending William Peace University in the fall, and he's going to be going for physical therapy and to play baseball. As you see in your bulletin, he plays a lot of baseball. And so go ahead and give a hand for Ryan Keller. Our next graduate
[00:10:52] is Allison Nesbitt, if you'll come on up. She is graduating from Gaston College. She is getting associates, she got her associate's degree in health and science, and then she will be attending App State in the fall to finish her college career. So let's go ahead and give it up for
[00:11:11] Allison. All right, our next graduate, and I don't know if he came to the doors yet or not, but Hartman Smith is our third graduate for today, and he is graduating from Mitchell College. He's
[00:11:31] gotten his associate degree in arts, and then he will be continuing working at the gym in Hickory as he continues to teach Muay Thai to people.
[00:11:45] And then he's also played a big role in getting our young adults together once a month.
[00:11:51] He's also been faithful to come to our young adults Sunday school on Sunday mornings.
[00:11:57] And so let's go ahead and give a round of applause for Hartman.
[00:12:06] And then I'm going to go ahead and ask the families and close friends of those two graduates right there to come up as we pray for them as they go into college or go into the workforce.
[00:12:17] We would love to pray for them this morning.
[00:12:19] And so as they come up, I'll go ahead and tell you what they got in their little gift bags.
[00:12:23] We got them both a really good study Bible to go wherever they're going next.
[00:12:28] And then because a lot of them couldn't stay for lunch this afternoon, we got them a gift card to a local restaurant.
[00:12:35] And then Ryan Keller has actually received a Trinity scholarship for his first year of school.
[00:12:42] And so I would encourage you to give to our scholarship funds so that we can continue doing that and continuing to invest in our young adults.
[00:12:50] And so I'm going to go ahead and pray for these two, these three graduates, and we'll continue our service.
[00:12:57] Lord Jesus, thank you for this morning. Thank you that we can be in the house of the Lord.
[00:13:01] Thank you for these young people. Thank you for getting them through school and all the challenges that comes with it.
[00:13:07] Lord, we pray for the two that are going into further education.
[00:13:12] Lord, I pray that you would just give them wisdom and discernment and that they would be a light for you wherever they go.
[00:13:18] Lord, we pray for them as they go into the workforce, that they would be missionaries wherever they're at.
[00:13:23] Lord, whether that's at a gym, whether that's in health, or that's in sports, Lord, I pray that they would be a light for you, for your kingdom, for your glory, Lord Jesus.
[00:13:35] Lord, I pray for their families as they encourage them, as they push them forward, as they've raised them to be young men and young women who follow after you, Lord Jesus.
[00:13:45] I pray for the rest of our remainder of our service, Lord.
[00:13:48] I pray that we would be focused in on you, Lord, that you would be honored and glorified.
[00:13:52] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

[00:14:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:14:07] How we doing today? Amen. Good.
[00:14:12] I wonder, does anybody know who Pete Myers is?
[00:14:19] Gotta love it. Gotta love it.
[00:14:22] No, I didn't think so.
[00:14:28] Pete Myers is the poor soul who had to step in any time Michael Jordan went down.
[00:14:34] And that's a lot like how I feel this morning.
[00:14:40] In all seriousness, many of you have heard by now that our senior pastor, Mark Harris, is recovering from an ankle injury following an unexpected encounter with a dog earlier this week.
[00:14:53] So we certainly want to keep Dr. Mark in our prayers as well as Nurse Beth as she tends to him and cares for him and our prayers as he recovers and lord willing he'll be back on his feet very soon we also want to remember the volvosky family we just had a
[00:15:09] celebration in life just here yesterday for that family that dear brother is now worshiping in glory and we praise god for that let's continue to remember our guatemala missions team as well as they're away serving the lord this week even so we are so very thankful that you are here with
[00:15:27] us today whether you're joining us in person or watching online or via delayed broadcast but especially if you're visiting trinity for the first time we want to wish you want to issue you a warm welcome on behalf of the lord and if you'd be so kind as to just simply slip your hand up as
[00:15:44] the deacons are walking down the aisles they have a gift bag for you and in that gift bag you'll see a little card you can fill out and drop it off in the offering plate that's just a way that we can
[00:15:54] connect with you at a later point in time and get to know you a little bit better and guide your walk with Christ but church family regardless of what kind of week that you have had this is the
[00:16:07] day that the Lord has made and we have gathered together today to rejoice and be glad in it we've got several things to rejoice in and you've seen three of those the accomplishments of these
[00:16:20] graduates and their family members here and we're so thankful for our youth minister Trevor and his work with these students and we're so thankful for their families we're thankful for this church that has invested to them as they start their journey through life and we celebrate this special
[00:16:37] milestone together so at the onset of our service together let's just go before the Lord and ask him to bless our time together today Father in heaven God you are good and you are gracious
[00:16:54] you are merciful Lord abounding in steadfast love Father we're thankful for your kindness and for your mercy and your grace we're thankful Lord that it's new every morning Lord we freely acknowledge that we don't deserve it
[00:17:13] Father that's why we refer to grace as unmerited favor Lord we freely confess at the onset of our time together today our dependency upon you Lord we're careful to confess our sins because we know if we confess our sins,
[00:17:29] Lord, You're faithful.
[00:17:31] And God, You're just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[00:17:39] Father, we call out this morning for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
[00:17:45] Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit would be the wind in our sails, would be the steam in our engine, that it would propel us and push us and guide us closer and closer to Christ
[00:17:55] with each and every moment.
[00:18:00] Thank You, Father, for this great hope of the Gospel.
[00:18:03] Thank You for giving us a church where we can gather.
[00:18:06] Thank You for giving us a nation that we can celebrate and enjoy freedoms, such as freedom of religion.
[00:18:12] We can lift high the name of Jesus.
[00:18:15] Thank You, Lord, for the trials, for the tribulations, for the hardships that we go through in life because we know that they produce within us Your character and Your likeness.
[00:18:27] father we look to you today to lead us you are the chief shepherd of our souls father you are the good shepherd who laid down your life for your flock that you may lead them and guide them
[00:18:42] into those green pastures and beside those still waters so that father you could restore our soul so father do that this morning we look to you we long for you and we love you lord
[00:18:59] but only because it is you that have first loved us father help us this morning to worship you in spirit and in truth god you are spirit and you've given us your word which is truth
[00:19:18] may we respond to it now as we stand and we rejoice and we worship in the moments to come we ask this in jesus mighty name amen well if you've got children with you nursery through third grade we have children's care available for you at these double doors but
[00:19:36] how about we take just a moment to stand and greet one another and welcome into the house of the lord

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:19:40] today this is the time that we give to the lord our tithes and offerings if you're watching online

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:25:00] through live stream you can go to the section for giving and now let's pray heavenly father Almighty God, we gather before you this Sunday morning with hearts full of praise and gratitude for your endless grace. As your servants, we lay these prayers before your throne.
[00:25:30] Lord, we dedicate this offering to your kingdom. Bless these gifts and multiply them.
[00:25:37] Use them to fuel ministry right here in our community, across our state, throughout our nation, and to the absolute ends of the earth.
[00:25:49] May every dollar bring hope to the hurting and spread your gospel.
[00:25:56] We lift up those in our congregation who are walking through valleys of grief.
[00:26:02] Comfort those who have lost loved ones.
[00:26:05] with your supernatural peace.
[00:26:08] Touch the sick in our church family with your healing hand.
[00:26:14] Restore their strength and renew their bodies.
[00:26:19] We pray for our Pastor Mark after breaking his ankle this past week.
[00:26:24] Lord, soothe his pain and accelerate his healing.
[00:26:29] Grant him the physical endurance and strength to fulfill his congressional duties and his pastoral responsibilities.
[00:26:38] Equipped him daily, balancing his leadership both in our nation's capital and in our church body.
[00:26:46] As we look ahead this fall, we pray for our church school.
[00:26:51] Prepare the classrooms, the curriculum, and the teachers.
[00:26:56] We ask that you open the doors for more students to register.
[00:27:01] Lord, we also lay the school's financial needs at your feet.
[00:27:05] Trusting completely that you will provide every dollar required to sustain this vital ministry.
[00:27:15] And Lord, we cry out for an end to the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
[00:27:23] Stop the violence.
[00:27:25] Protect the innocent civilians caught in all this crossfire.
[00:27:30] and shield our military service members who stand in harm's way.
[00:27:36] We pray for our government leaders.
[00:27:39] Grant them divine wisdom to make decisions that honor you.
[00:27:45] Help them lead boldly, trusting in your name, Lord.
[00:27:49] We ask you to halt the chaos and the destruction that goes on in our country.
[00:27:55] turn the heart of our nation back to you that we may seek your divine will above all else and bless our guatemala mission team as they serve alongside good shepherd's ministry protect every team member worker and child they encounter keep them completely safe from harm
[00:28:19] And may our team be a profound blessing, serving you fiercely and fulfilling your exact purpose for them on the mission field.
[00:28:30] And we pray for our Pastor Leto as he brings your holy word to us this morning.
[00:28:36] Anoint his message, open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts.
[00:28:43] Help us to hear, learn, and truly discern what you are teaching us.
[00:28:48] So we may walk out of these doors changed.
[00:28:53] We ask all these things in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus.
[00:28:59] Amen.

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:30:33] You'll always find he's never too far from his one voice.
[00:31:15] And so continue your journey to see life's ahead, what's behind, and he's never too far.
[00:32:20] What is right there beside you, sing and love, lies ahead, and he's never ever you.

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:33:02] Amen, amen.
[00:33:03] Thank you so much, Sarah and Melanie and Lindsay, for blessing our hearts with that lovely song.
[00:33:14] Well, you know you're a last-minute change when we couldn't even have time to correct the bulletins.
[00:33:19] I'm not Dr. Harris, and we're not preaching on Genesis 4 today.
[00:33:24] But I'm still thankful for the opportunity nonetheless.
[00:33:28] You know, when I got the phone call or a text message from Pastor Mark that he was not able to do the funeral yesterday and the sermon today, I'm not going to lie, I got pretty nervous.
[00:33:38] I was thinking, my goodness, two sermons to write in 24 hours.
[00:33:42] I'm going to have to put the hand to the plow.
[00:33:44] Um, but I started thinking back to, um, just other messages and oddly enough, one came to the forefront of my heart and my mind. Uh, when I was a seminary student back in Southeastern, I had a wonderful opportunity to, um, sit under Jim Shaddix. And I don't know if you know,
[00:34:04] Jim Shaddix, he literally wrote the book on preaching, um, filled in oddly enough for pastor mark at first baptist charlotte and that is a massive hat tip to both of those men because they are certainly men of god and jim shattucks is now with the lord and i'm just so thankful for
[00:34:21] the incredible opportunity to have sat through his preaching classes and to have been taught what it means to teach and preach god's word but i never will forget my hybrid weekend they 30 young men all aspiring pastors would get together and we would sit in this room and
[00:34:35] And each of us had a specific text that we were assigned in the book of Philippians.
[00:34:41] We preached through the whole book of Philippians in a weekend from Thursday to Sunday.
[00:34:46] It was glorious.
[00:34:48] But I remember getting my text and I was a little disappointed in what I got handed to me.
[00:34:53] I mean, there's a lot of great, amazing stuff in the book of Philippians.
[00:34:56] And I just looked over what I was assigned and I thought to myself, my goodness, what am I going to do with this one?
[00:35:02] and oddly enough um it really applies for today and to tell you the truth we had a gentleman in the back they had 20 20 to 25 minutes per person and they even had like a it's like a gong back
[00:35:15] there if you went over they would hit that gong and you couldn't even get another word out you had to go sit down and i am not gonna lie i did not finish my sermon that day um i didn't get it
[00:35:26] done in 20 minutes but nonetheless i still passed the class i'm still here and i hope to do that today. I got a little unfinished business to share with you today. So I want to start out
[00:35:37] by telling you a little story about my wife and I. I changed a lot of the sermon from several years ago. I was like, my goodness, I've grown a lot since then. I hope I better clean this thing up.
[00:35:50] So I want to tell you a little story about my wife and I. A couple years ago, we had some, let's just say, interesting neighbors. We'll call them that. And as hard as we try to live in harmony
[00:36:00] with them, it seemed like nothing we could ever do would satisfy them. I mean, over the course of several months, the complaints from these neighbors, they just kept pouring in. I mean, they told us
[00:36:11] one day, they said, your trampoline's too close to our fence. So we moved it. You're mowing your lawn too close to our lawn. So I mowed less of my lawn. They said, we don't like your kids playing in your
[00:36:30] front yard so I lovingly told my children try to play in the backyard more often they said your dogs bark too much so we bought shock collars bark collars put them on them they said you leave your
[00:36:46] gates open too much so I put padlocks on the gates at one point they I even helped them build a bigger and better privacy fence because they said our dogs don't like your dogs very much and they don't
[00:37:00] get along. So on and on it went. And now as a Christian, but also as a pastor, I genuinely wanted to respond to my neighbors with patience and with kindness and with grace. But looking
[00:37:18] back on it, there was probably a few moments during that period of time when I looked more like a doormat than a disciple. But that all changed one day when my wife and I decided to
[00:37:30] take our little dogs for a walk. We barely had gotten out of our front yard when their rather large German shepherd, I might add, shook their gate so violently barking that it popped open and he came charging at us. Now, being the brave and courageous man that I am,
[00:37:54] I immediately let out a very deep and intimidating battle cry. Why are y'all laughing so much at that my wife was there ask her it was manly right please nod okay but ultimately as impressive as my
[00:38:20] not scream but battle cry was it did absolutely nothing to deter that dog and before i knew it that german shepherd was attacking our pit bull named asher now immediately i grabbed asher by the collar and i tried to pull him away but as i was doing that he just looked up at me as if to say
[00:38:41] dad whose side are you on like you're you're holding me down and the other guy's punching so i i thought well you want to pick a fight with a pit bull you got it i just let him go
[00:38:55] so be my guest you know pit bull activate you know asher live up to your name but soon after letting go of my dog asher i discovered that he is not 100 pit bull he's not he's actually half
[00:39:15] pit bull half bear and i'm not talking about grizzly either i'm talking about teddy because instead of defending himself he just laid there helplessly looking up at me while the other dog just kept chewing on him angrily i might add so at that point i did what any loving sensible
[00:39:42] kind and gentle christian dog owner would do i kicked that other dog right in the face I did and thankfully that got the message across because the dog backed off all parties involved were safe I know surprisingly including the German Shepherd walked away just fine and I don't know if
[00:40:09] Pastor Mark's Secret Service is listening to this sermon or not but if they're hiring I do have dog defense on my resume I'm happy to serve just saying but in all seriousness churches it's not
[00:40:23] just pastor mark and myself who need to watch out for dogs as soon as we're going to see we're going to see here soon in philippians chapter 3 the apostle paul gives that same warning to believers
[00:40:35] everywhere watch out for the dogs he says he's not talking about those four-legged furry friends that we all love either no he's talking about something so much more dangerous than that See, these dogs don't just attack the body.
[00:40:56] The scriptures warn us that they attack the soul.
[00:41:02] If you're ready to heed God's warning today and see the call that Christ calls us to do about it, would you please stand with me out of reverence for the reading of God's holy inspired word.
[00:41:17] Behold, the word of the Lord.
[00:41:23] Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.
[00:41:28] to write the same things to you is no trouble for me and it's safe for you look out for the dogs look out for the evildoers look out for those who mutilate the flesh for we are the circumcision
[00:41:47] who worship by the spirit of god and glory in jesus christ and put no confidence in the flesh though i myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also if anyone else thinks he has reason
[00:42:03] for confidence in the flesh i have more circumcised on the eighth day of the people of israel of the tribe of benjamin a hebrew of hebrews as to the law a pharisee as to zeal a persecutor
[00:42:23] of the church as to the righteousness under the law blameless but whatever gain i had I count it as loss for the sake of Christ.
[00:42:40] Would you pray with me?
[00:42:44] Father, it is the Spirit who gives life.
[00:42:50] The flesh is no help at all.
[00:42:53] And so Father, through Your Holy Spirit's empowerment, please press this message upon our hearts here today.
[00:43:02] Through the Holy Spirit's empowerment, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight oh lord our rock and our redeemer we ask this in your mighty name
[00:43:20] and all god's people said amen thank you you may be seated now ladies and gentlemen if i could boil down this entire sermon down into just a single sentence here's what that statement would be. God's word guards our hearts. God's word guards our hearts from confidence in the flesh
[00:43:52] and it guides us to a faith that is in Christ alone. Let's take a closer look to the first part of that truth today. God's word guards our hearts for Christ. God's word guards our hearts
[00:44:15] for christ philippians 3 1 and 2 again says finally my brothers rejoice in the lord to write these same things to you is no trouble to me and it is safe for you look out for the dogs
[00:44:32] look out for the evildoers look out for those who mutilate the flesh now this might come as a surprise to you but i'm pretty sure about it i have a suspicion that the apostle paul must have
[00:44:45] been a southern baptist preacher i mean after all consider this here he is he's halfway through his letter right just starting chapter three and he starts off by saying finally my brothers now if you've spent any amount of time in a southern baptist church you know when a pastor
[00:45:06] says finally it doesn't necessarily mean we're almost done right but rather i'm about to move on to my next point and this is important so pay attention so notice what the apostle paul says soon after that after he says finally my brothers he says rejoice rejoice in the lord think about
[00:45:33] that for a moment i mean here paul is do you know where he's writing from a prison cell he's writing to a group of people leaving living in the city of philippi who are facing opposition and persecution
[00:45:49] all throughout chapters one and two he'd spoken about suffering about hardships about humility and sacrifice perseverance and yet now even now his command is not necessarily to worry in the lord or to fear in the lord or even to endure in the lord his command is for all of us to
[00:46:20] rejoice in the lord in fact some some scholars could summarize the entire book of philippians down to just three profound words do you know what those words would be joy in jesus the book of philippians offers the church joy in jesus but what's fascinating here is that the apostle
[00:46:51] Paul doesn't simply say rejoicing is beneficial. He says rejoicing is safe. He says that praise leads to protection. Rejoice in the Lord. To say these same things to you is no trouble for me and
[00:47:14] it's safe for you, he says. In other words, Paul understands that there is a kind of spiritual protection that comes to us from continually being reminded by the fact that our joy our joy is not ultimately found in our circumstances church it's found in christ why is that i believe
[00:47:37] it is because a heart that is truly satisfied in jesus is less likely to go around looking for satisfaction from any other source i believe that if a believer's heart is so filled with the love
[00:47:51] of christ they are far less vulnerable to fall in love with anything else this world could offer especially other counterfeit gospels i believe a believer who is feasting on christ daily is far less likely to chase after artificial substitutes i love how the puritan pastor matthew henry put
[00:48:22] he put it this way listen carefully to his words he's a lot smarter than i he says the joy of jesus arms us against the assaults of our spiritual enemies he says it puts our mouths out of taste
[00:48:39] for those pleasures for which the tempter baits his hooks what a wonderful image when christ becomes our greatest delight the baits of the enemy lose their luster in other words he's saying safety for your soul is found in satisfaction of your shepherd a heart that is satisfied in christ
[00:49:10] is a guarded heart when christ becomes our deepest source of satisfaction false hopes begin to look exactly like they are just empty promises empty promises that can't really satisfy i mean how can the heart of a husband stay faithful to his wife for so many years 70 years 80 years how can a
[00:49:40] former addict stay away from a bottle whether it be a liquor bottle or a pill bottle for so many years is it not because they found something else that truly satisfies their soul it's not
[00:49:58] found in a white pill or a red pill or a blue pill no sir it's found in the gospel has our lord not said whoever drinks of the water that i give them will never thirst again has he not declared
[00:50:15] himself to be the bread of life that whoever feasts upon him will never hunger again brothers and sisters the more we daily and deeply drink and feast upon Jesus and his word the more joyous
[00:50:34] our lives will be because the more satisfied our lives are in him we could further glorify him and that's the secret behind spiritual security my friends it's found in joy in Jesus praise leads to protection. That's why the faithful teaching of God's word is of the utmost importance.
[00:51:02] That's why every shepherd who is worth a hill of beans won't just simply seek to entertain the sheep, but will seek to faithfully feed them. And not with a cheap, easy, worldly, microwavable meal.
[00:51:17] no we need that good stuff we need that savory meat those meat and taters served up from god's holy word we're talking about that glorious bible barbecue brisket right that rich and savory spiritual nourishment that can only be found in god's holy word these are slow cooked truths
[00:51:45] these are truths of the text that have been baked for centuries and enjoyed by saints who are now seasoned with god's mercy and his love and his grace you know it really is true sheep are most vulnerable to attack when they're hungry why is that because that hunger leads them
[00:52:13] to search for satisfaction and the same could be said spiritually for you and for me when our souls are not feeding on jesus and his word we often look elsewhere for satisfaction that's often when
[00:52:30] the enemy finds an opportunity to attack that's often when the wolves move in to divide and to distort and to devour that's why god's word is such a powerful form of protection i mean do we
[00:52:49] not call it the armor of god for a reason does that not imply a defense for a reason a protection for a reason the word of god fuels our joy in jesus and our joy for christ guards our hearts
[00:53:04] from wandering away from him you know the prophet jeremiah knew this i love how the prophet jeremiah put this so wonderfully in his testimony in jeremiah 15 16 consider his words jeremiah says your words god your words were found and i ate them and your words became to me a joy and the
[00:53:31] delight of my heart for i'm called by your name oh lord god of hosts i want you to notice the progression there notice he found god's word he consumed god's word and god's word soon began
[00:53:52] consuming him god's word became to him a joy and the delight of his heart church these words don't just offer us nourishment to our soul these words also remind us who we belong to these words teach
[00:54:17] us to recognize the voice of our shepherd calling out to us and when we know the shepherd's voice we're far less likely to wander off and follow another i mean didn't jesus tell us that in john
[00:54:31] 10 27 when he said my sheep hear my voice i know them and they will follow me but if safety is what the apostle paul is offering us in verse one doesn't that kind of imply a danger isn't there
[00:54:53] a danger lurking nearby paul thinks so paul immediately identifies the threat in the very next verses that follow, look back in verse two. He tells the church over and over and over again to look out. To look out for the dogs. What dogs? Look out for the evildoers. What evildoers? Look
[00:55:17] out for those who mutilate the flesh. What is Paul talking about? Paul is sounding an alarm. He's like a shepherd spotting wolves coming in from the horizon approaching the flock paul raises his voice and he warns the church to recognize the danger before it arrives now i gotta be honest
[00:55:45] spent a lot of time in a church over 30 something years in a church and in all the churches i've ever been in i've never seen a church with a sign out in the foyer that said beware of dog
[00:55:55] haven't ever seen that but i will say this if there was ever a church that needed one it was the church in philippi so who are these mysterious dogs church they're not man's best friend these are the hounds of hell the very hounds of hell isaiah described them isaiah
[00:56:25] prophesied them this way check out check out this passage in isaiah i want you to note carefully their lack of satisfaction isaiah 56 verse 11 he says the dogs have a mighty appetite they never
[00:56:44] have enough they are shepherds who have no understanding they have all turned to their own way each to their own gain one and all the apostle paul and isaiah they're referring to a group of people in this time period known as the Judaizers. The Judaizers. Why do we call them
[00:57:16] Judaizers? Well, simply because they tried to convert everybody to Judaism, right? They claimed to be shepherds of God's people, but instead of leading the flock towards Christ, as good under shepherds would, they led them away from him. Instead of leading the sheep to the green pastures
[00:57:37] in the still waters that could restore their soul they guard they guided Christ's flock towards the barren pastures and troubled waters of legalism burdening their souls with man-made requirements that try to convince God's people that faith in Christ is not enough to save you
[00:58:02] the Judaizers taught that in order to be counted righteous before God a person needs Jesus plus something. You need God plus something. What do I mean by that? You need God plus observance to the
[00:58:16] law. You need God plus circumcision. You need God plus religious performance. But the true gospel has never been God plus anything else. The true gospel is found in Christ and in Christ alone.
[00:58:37] The true gospel is that we are saved by grace through faith.
[00:58:41] And that faith is in Christ and in Christ alone.
[00:58:46] You know, what makes Paul's warning even more striking is that he throws back an insult at them that they would use for other people.
[00:58:54] I mean, the Jews often refer to the Gentiles as the dogs.
[00:58:59] Why?
[00:59:02] Because they're ceremonially unclean.
[00:59:04] I mean, much like a wild dog.
[00:59:07] Think about a dog.
[00:59:08] roam in the streets of Israel Gentiles would eat virtually anything they came across the dogs would eat virtually anything they came across but devout Jews on the other hand they were so distinguished right they carefully observed the dietary regulations of the ceremonial
[00:59:31] law so Paul takes this accusation and he applies it to the Judaizers themselves why because as Jesus taught. Uncleanness is not ultimately an external problem. Uncleanness is an internal problem. It's a matter of the heart. Perhaps you might remember when Jesus had this, Jesus
[01:00:00] confronted this very mindset back in Matthew 15. Think back to his interaction with the Canaanite woman. Do you remember right after Jesus teaching on defilement? Do you remember what he said about the children's bread on the table talking to the canaanite woman talking to a gentile he said it is
[01:00:20] not right to give the children's bread and give it to the dogs here jesus is hitting this head on but in that same chapter jesus made it crystal clear what made a person unclean it's not what
[01:00:36] enters their mouth that makes them unclean but what comes out of their mouth why out of the abundance of the heart. A man will speak. Jesus called these people whitewashed tombs. They appeared to be alive and clean and beautiful on the outside, but their hearts, their hearts were
[01:01:06] ugly, dead, cold, and rottenness on the inside. Don't get me wrong. At first glance, these people appear to be very spiritual they fasted they prayed they observed the sabbath they followed the law they studied the scriptures they carefully observed all the religious traditions
[01:01:35] and yet in their pursuit of all of that religion they rejected the most important thing of all A personal relationship with their Redeemer.
[01:01:57] Paul knew this.
[01:01:59] Paul knew that any attempt to earn salvation through good works isn't religion before the eyes of God.
[01:02:06] It's rebellion before the eyes of God.
[01:02:11] And like all sin, all sin is high treason.
[01:02:14] All rebellion is high treason.
[01:02:15] And it's worthy of death before our King of Kings.
[01:02:22] Has not the prophet Isaiah reminded us that our most righteous of actions, the best things that we can bring before God, as compared to a holy God, how does he consider them?
[01:02:33] Filthy rags.
[01:02:38] Paul referred to these men as those who mutilate the flesh.
[01:02:43] Why is that?
[01:02:46] These Judaizers glorified.
[01:02:48] They were obsessed with circumcision.
[01:02:52] They insisted that it was necessary for salvation.
[01:02:58] But Paul refused to call it circumcision.
[01:03:02] Instead, Paul called it mutilation.
[01:03:07] The Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, had this to say about Paul's remarks.
[01:03:14] The Apostle Paul essentially calls these people the cutters.
[01:03:17] Because they not only cut the flesh, they sought to cut the church of God into pieces.
[01:03:26] These men wounded souls.
[01:03:30] These men divided churches.
[01:03:31] these men sought to butcher the bride of christ how by beating her to death with burden after burden after burden in their quest their never-ending quest to earn the favor of god and church paul's not here this morning but his word is and i am and i'm here to warn you today
[01:03:56] that this danger has not disappeared the names might have changed but the message remains the same any teaching any teaching no matter the source that says that Jesus is not enough you must add your works you must add your performance you must add your religious activities you must
[01:04:22] add your achievements it's preaching the same old evil lie dressed up in new clothes it's the same old ravenous wolves dressed up in sheep's clothing so what does the true gospel say church how do we
[01:04:43] proclaim the true gospel the true gospel declares that christ is enough that christ has already He accomplished everything needed for salvation.
[01:04:56] Christ lived a life we could not live.
[01:04:59] He died the death we deserve to die.
[01:05:01] And he rose victoriously over sin, death, and the grave.
[01:05:07] That's why God's word guards our hearts.
[01:05:10] Because every time we open up its pages, we're reminded that our confidence is not ultimately in what we have done for God, but rather what God has done for us on the cross.
[01:05:25] Our hope is not found in how we could cut our bodies.
[01:05:32] Our hope is found in that Christ allowed His body to be cut, His body to be pierced for us.
[01:05:44] Our confidence is not in the cuts of circumcision, church.
[01:05:49] Our confidence is in the wounds of Calvary.
[01:05:57] Not in our works for salvation, but in his finished work upon that tree that leads us directly into another major point of the text today god's word doesn't just guard our hearts in christ it also guides our hearts to
[01:06:17] christ look in verse 3 paul says we are the circumcision who worship by the spirit of god and glory in christ jesus and we put no confidence in the flesh paul now shows another surprising
[01:06:36] contrast after warning the philippians after warning them about those who trusted in these religious rituals he declares it's not you who are the circumcision but us now at first that seems a little contradictory right why would he condemn the judaizers for their obsession with circumcision
[01:06:58] only to turn around and emphasize that the true believers were the true circumcision the answer is that the apostle Paul is not speaking about, he's talking about an entirely different kind of circumcision. One not performed by human hands, but one performed by the power of God.
[01:07:23] Turn your eyes to Colossians chapter 2 verse 11, if you will, because Paul explains this there.
[01:07:32] In Colossians chapter 2 verse 11, Paul says in him, in Christ, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ what is he talking about he picks it up in Romans Romans chapter 2 28 through 29
[01:07:56] this is what the apostle Paul said no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly nor is circumcision anything physical, but a Jew is one inwardly. And circumcision, circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the spirit, not by the letter. And his praise is not from man, but from God.
[01:08:28] That's the key. True worship of God is not produced by external religion. It's produced by inward regeneration the Judaizers were concerned with cutting the flesh but God God's concerned about changing your heart the Judaizers focused on outward conformity
[01:08:54] but the gospel the gospel produces an inward transformation the Judaizers wanted to trust in what man could accomplish for God but the true gospel teaches us to trust in what God has accomplished for man i want you to notice there's three marks three marks three ways paul
[01:09:17] says you can tell you're a true child of god and as we go over these marks today i want you to hold up your life to them and compare ask yourself do i have these marks on my life the true marks of a
[01:09:32] believer here they are number one first one for the true marks of a believer the true believer will worship by the Spirit. A true believer in Christ will worship by the Spirit. Their worship is not
[01:09:51] mechanical. It's not ritualistic. It's not traditional. It is the overflow of a heart that has been made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, number two, these people will glory in christ jesus the glory in christ their boast is not in their morality their boast is not
[01:10:19] in their pedigree or their performance their boast is in christ and in christ alone third they put no confidence in the flesh they understand that no amount of religious effort could ever make a sinner right with god their confidence rests entirely in the perfect life
[01:10:40] the substitutionary death, and the victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[01:10:49] I wonder, does that describe you this morning?
[01:10:55] If not, if not, can I just lovingly tell you today, my friend, that you might not be right with God?
[01:11:07] This is how God's Word guides our hearts to Christ.
[01:11:11] It exposes the emptiness of our self-righteousness.
[01:11:14] it directs our affections and our attentions towards the sufficiency of our savior a true believer won't just trust in what has been done to his body but rather what has christ has accomplished in his body on the tree our confidence is not in a knife that could cut or mark our flesh
[01:11:36] but in the nails that pierced his hands and his feet our hope is not in a religious performance but in god's redeeming grace therefore shepherds true shepherds they must seek to faithfully guard the flock from every false gospel that ever seeks to add anything else to christ whoever says jesus
[01:12:04] plus this must always be met by a christian who says that christ is enough christ is enough You know, here's kind of how I like to think about it.
[01:12:20] My family and I, we've been learning how to play golf lately.
[01:12:24] I'm not saying I am good at golf, but I will say I have a good time most of the time.
[01:12:30] That is when golf doesn't turn into an Easter egg hunt in the woods.
[01:12:35] But I've been learning a lot about golf, and apparently there's a lot of great gospel correlations with golf.
[01:12:42] I mean, did you know that the better a club has, like the better club you have the more what they call forgiveness it has when you hit it wrong doesn't go the wrong way but I was sitting on the tee box the other day and I was thinking about
[01:12:55] how does the gospel correlate to golf and I thought of a few kind of interesting thoughts one is that when we think that we have to add anything else to the finished work of Christ
[01:13:08] it's kind of like saying this you know here Jesus is up to the tee box he tees off and I'm like man Nice drive, Jesus.
[01:13:17] Like we're right here in the middle of the fairway.
[01:13:19] Not bad.
[01:13:20] Now let me come up here.
[01:13:20] Slide on over, Jesus.
[01:13:21] I'm going to come up and chip it up onto the green for you because we're not quite there just yet.
[01:13:27] Maybe you're like, hey, I'm a little bit more religious than that.
[01:13:30] I don't do that.
[01:13:31] Maybe you're up on the green, right?
[01:13:35] Jesus, you've already done so much for me, but there's still just a little bit left for me to do.
[01:13:41] Just a little tap.
[01:13:43] We finally get it up in that hole, right?
[01:13:45] I think that's pretty ridiculous, if you think about it.
[01:13:51] That's how a lot of people approach the gospel.
[01:13:55] The gospel is not Christ getting us close to salvation, church.
[01:14:01] While we come in and finish the job, the gospel is what Christ has accomplished.
[01:14:08] He's accomplished everything necessary for our salvation from beginning to end.
[01:14:13] his perfect life his atoning death and his resurrection that secures our victory these Judaizers were essentially saying Jesus you did pretty good you got it right there up on the fairway but circumcision and a little bit of extra religion will help you chip it right on
[01:14:36] into the green the apostle Paul says absolutely not our confidence is not in our swing our confidence is not in our scorecard our confidence is not in our religious performance our confidence is in Christ and in Christ alone that's why the true worshipers of Christ glory in Jesus they put
[01:15:00] no confidence in the flesh and that's why we're going to land today just here briefly on the last point point number three it's so important God's word doesn't just guard our hearts for Christ or guide our hearts to Christ.
[01:15:16] God's word grounds our hearts in Christ.
[01:15:21] Let's finish out the text today.
[01:15:25] Paul says, Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also, if anyone thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.
[01:15:36] I was circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church as to righteousness under the law i was blameless
[01:15:51] but listen to how he ends in verse 7 but whatever gain i had i counted as loss for the sake of knowing christ the apostle paul understood exactly what these judaizers were trying to do
[01:16:10] they wanted people to place their confidence in their religious achievements in their religious ceremonies, in their outward performances, and so Paul sets out to beat them at their own game. Not because Paul is proud, but because he's exposing the foolishness of
[01:16:31] their argument. Look at it this way. If Paul had applied for the position of spiritual elite in his day, his resume would have been at the top of the pile. He was a textbook example as to what it
[01:16:50] meant to be a Judaizer, to what they admired the most. Paul was a pure-blooded, highly disciplined, law-observant Jew, and yet Paul had no interest in boasting in any of that. Why? Paul found a treasure infinitely greater than anything his religious accomplishments could ever provide him
[01:17:19] with and better yet that treasure was not earned through his hard work it was given to him as a gift through the finished work of another Paul's purpose was not in exalting himself his purpose
[01:17:37] was to expose the emptiness of trusting in the flesh if the apostle Paul with all of his religious credentials his law keeping his zeal his pedigree could not earn righteousness before God what hope would the Judaizers have?
[01:17:57] Let me put it to you this way.
[01:17:58] If Tiger Woods didn't make the cut, what makes you think you're gonna fare any better?
[01:18:03] Paul is essentially saying, if I could have trusted in the flesh, if anyone could have trusted in the flesh, it was me.
[01:18:11] But I learned that even my best efforts could never make me right before God.
[01:18:20] Church, if Paul's righteousness wasn't enough, neither will yours.
[01:18:25] If Paul's performance wasn't enough, neither is yours.
[01:18:32] If Paul's religious resume isn't enough, neither is yours.
[01:18:41] Nothing, absolutely nothing we could ever do could ever save us.
[01:18:52] Do you know why Christianity is separated from all the other religions on the planet?
[01:18:59] Every other religion offers us some form of spiritual ladder that we have to climb in order to work ourselves to God.
[01:19:05] But Christianity stands alone.
[01:19:11] Christianity is the only religion on the planet that is not about what God, what man must do for God, but what God has done for man.
[01:19:20] Every other religion says do, but it's never done.
[01:19:26] But the true gospel says believe, because it's already done.
[01:19:32] Every other false religion says try harder, work harder, but the true gospel says rest and rejoice, because it is finished.
[01:19:43] Whereas every other false religion points to the efforts of men the gospel points to the finished work of Christ so church as we end today I want to just tell you Jesus plus circumcision is not the gospel and some might say
[01:20:01] well preacher I know that so let me get a little bit more personal Jesus plus baptism is not the gospel. Jesus plus church attendance is not the gospel. Jesus plus religious performance is not the gospel. Jesus plus tithing is not the gospel. Jesus plus being Republican is not the gospel.
[01:20:27] Jesus plus only singing hymns is not the gospel. Jesus plus only the King James version of the bible is not the gospel the gospel is faith and faith in christ alone for salvation that is it
[01:20:45] that is all and when people try to do anything else when people try to work their way into heaven they only end up going to hell tired that's why we put no confidence in the flesh that's why we
[01:21:05] glory in only Christ and Christ alone. We worship by the Spirit and the Spirit alone. That's why we say what Paul says. We count every single thing in our lives, everything else in our lives,
[01:21:20] as loss. There's a great danger, church, that comes from the dogs. These dogs will pull us away from Christ. But can I just tell you that safety and security is found in the Lamb. So
[01:21:40] church rejoice in Christ today cling to the glorious gospel today and as you do look out for the dogs look out for the dogs God's word will guard your heart God's word will guard your heart
[01:21:58] from confidence in the flesh and it will guide you to a saving faith in the finished work of Christ and Christ alone.
[01:22:07] If you believe that, would you pray with me?
[01:22:14] Holy Heavenly Father, God, we thank you for the finished work of Christ.
[01:22:21] And Lord, that is why we adore you as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
[01:22:26] Father, that is why there is salvation found in no other name.
[01:22:30] That is why the name of Jesus should be lifted up high above all other names.
[01:22:37] And Father, perhaps many of us have gotten on a performance treadmill, Lord.
[01:22:43] we sought to run our way towards you work our way towards you reach out and grasp you lord if we could only just be good enough if we could only just do enough to earn your favor but lord help
[01:22:57] us to realize today that your favor has already been given lord grace is unmerited favor grace is god's riches at christ's expense so father help us today to receive it help us to revel in it lord
[01:23:15] help us to rejoice in it. Father, help us to respond to it, Lord. Help us to share this great and glorious gospel with others. Thank you, Lord, for your word. Father, we have confidence that
[01:23:32] we'll go out and accomplish that which you sent it to do. Father, you've said that you'll sanctify your church by your truth and that your word is truth. So may this word go out. May it feed your
[01:23:45] flock. May it nourish their souls. May it guard them against the schemes of the enemy. Father, help us to keep an eye out for the dogs. Help us to have our eyes fixed on the land. Thank you for
[01:24:01] Jesus. Thank you for the forgiveness that's found in his name. And Lord, if there's anyone here who doesn't know you yet, who's still trying to earn their way to you somehow, Lord, help them to
[01:24:13] to stop. Help them to repent and to turn the other way, to come to the cross and to cling to it, Lord.
[01:24:24] For that is the only way that a man or a woman could be saved. Lord, we've heard your word, but we don't just want to be hearers of the word. We want to be doers of it. We want to respond
[01:24:37] appropriately. So Father, we now turn this time to you. Help us, empower us to respond to it as you

[01:24:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:24:46] you fit we ask this in your mighty name amen we are blessed by gathering together in worship and

[01:26:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:26:56] sitting under the word this morning it was an honor and a privilege to share god's word with you two quick things as we close out as brother trevor comes to give our benediction and prayer
[01:27:06] continue to lift up our senior pastor mark as he recovers lift up the guatemala team the volvosky family and also the youth are gearing up for a big uh camp experience and i'll let trevor tell
[01:27:17] you a little bit about that also, but thank you so much and God bless you. Awesome. I just want to

[01:27:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:27:22] thank you, Pastor Robert, for stepping up to the plate to comfort a family yesterday and to bring us the word this morning and allow our beloved pastor to rest up. So thank you, Pastor Robert
[01:27:34] and your family for stepping up last minute for doing that. Yeah, our youth are heading to camp next Monday, so be in prayer for that and pray for our missionaries out in Guatemala today for
[01:27:46] our benediction is a passage that's been on my heart all weekend with our upward soccer yesterday and then for our graduates this morning and then with Pastor Robert's message this morning. It's one verse out of the longest chapter of the Bible in Psalm 119, 105. Lord, your word is a lamp to my
[01:28:06] feet and a light into my path. Lord Jesus, thank you for today. Lord, thank you for this powerful message from Pastor Robert. Lord, I pray that your word would guard and guide and ground our
[01:28:20] hearts towards you and towards Christ. Lord, I pray as we go out that we would hold true to your word, that we would study it daily, that we would read it, that we would let it direct our paths,
[01:28:31] that we grow closer to you, and that we would point others to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.