Gospel Reminders and Warnings - 13

Well, as we've already been reminded, this particular Lord's Day is also designated as Father's Day in the United States of America. And we are happy to focus upon fatherhood and to honor fathers today, recognizing that fatherhood is an essential part of God's design for the human family, and recognizing that many of the problems and deteriorating elements that we see in our society in America today can be traced to the absence of fathers and to the sinful performance of so many fathers. And we recognize that a revival of obedience to the Word of God in the area of fatherhood, as well as in many other areas, would solve many of the societal problems that we are experiencing today. We also recognize that fatherhood is a challenging task.

It's a difficult responsibility. Most of all, because of our own sinful hearts, we are not inclined toward doing right but doing wrong. We are not inclined toward ministering to others but being selfish and self-centered. We are not inclined toward obedience to God and our dependence upon Him, but we are inclined to independent thought and rebellious ways, and therefore our greatest enemy against all that is good, including the proper role of fathers in the home, is our own sinful hearts. But in America today, we also have the second problem of the concentrated assault upon fatherhood.

And that, I think, is relatively new. It didn't always used to be that way. I'm old enough to remember a time when, in American society generally, fatherhood and motherhood and intact families was the norm and was applauded and encouraged by society at large. But now, all things have changed, and there is a concentrated assault upon everything that God has written in His Word. And therefore, dads who are trying to be good fathers are not only battling their own sinful hearts but also the assaults of those who are outside, outside of Christ, outside of the church, and therefore we need help as fathers. We need to pray for our fathers. We need to encourage our fathers.

We need to help one another in this responsibility. And so today we look into God's Word because that's where help can be found. We haven't chosen a different text but rather are continuing our series in the book of Philippians. And we'll be looking at the next section, which is verses 1, 2, and 3 of chapter 3.

But at the end, we'll be making some applications that are particularly pertinent to fathers and to their role. But today, Philippians 3, 1 through 3, where we find gospel reminders and warnings, and we shall see, number one, the value of purposeful repetition, number two, the necessity of appropriate warnings, and number three, the nature of God-honoring worship. Paul opens this chapter by telling us about the value of purposeful repetition. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.

For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Paul shows us the value of purposeful repetition first by example and secondly by explanation. And the example is that opening exhortation where he says, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Finally is a word that introduces a new section, actually moving into the last half now of this epistle. It means the introduction of a new subject.

This word means for the rest or now to go on. It doesn't necessarily mean my last words, though it is moving, of course, toward the conclusion as Paul moves along. But he opens this new section by an exhortation to rejoice in the Lord. Now, most of us know that the book of Philippians is the book of joy, and the word joy or rejoice, related words, are found at least 17 times throughout this epistle, very frequent to the extent that some have considered that to be the main theme of this epistle. Whether that's true or not, it is obvious that joy and rejoicing is frequently mentioned, and here Paul mentions it again and then goes on to say that repetition is not a bad thing. Rejoice in the Lord always. He started out with his first mention of joy in chapter 1 and verse 4, and we find that repeated all throughout this epistle. We find reference to rejoicing, the activity of rejoicing because of our joy mentioned several times, also beginning in chapter 1, verses 18 and 26, and chapter 2, verses 17 and 18. And that well-known verse that he hasn't gotten to yet in chapter 4, where he says in verse 4, Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again, I say, rejoice. You hear the repetition? Paul is exemplifying first what he secondly exhorts about purposeful repetition.

It's not a bad thing. And so it goes on to say that repetition as related to the preacher is, as he puts it here, not tedious, and repetition as it relates to the listeners is safe. It provides safety.

It provides a guard for those who are listening to the Word of God. For me to write the same thing to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. It's interesting that Paul's first comment about repetition focuses upon the preacher, the teacher, rather than upon the listener. If you say, oh, I've heard that before, the focus there is upon me and my thoughts and my reception and whether I like to hear things repeated or not.

But Paul doesn't start there. He gets there, but he starts out interestingly by saying that for the preacher himself to repeat things purposefully is not a bad thing. It's not tedious to the preacher. Purposeful repetition is not unfruitful.

It is fruitful. It is helpful in our walk with God. Now, unprepared repetition is often unprofitable. Repetition that is present because the preacher doesn't have anything new to say because he hasn't studied.

Please pray for me. I haven't had time to prepare, but please pray for me while I preach type of sermons will often contain a lot of repetition that has not been purposefully thought through and designed. But Paul is clearly talking about repetition that is God-directed, God-energized, that is purposeful, that is intentional, that is fruitful, that is profitable. And he says, even though there are times I would prefer not to have to repeat, think about the preacher who is repeating things he said before when he'd rather go on to something new, like the writer of Hebrews who says, I'd like to go on to other things, but you're not ready for them now. We go back to the basics, back to the first things all over again. That wouldn't be, says the writer of Hebrews, my first choice, but it is what is most needful for you.

And so here we are. The preacher finds that repetition is not tedious. But as related to the believer, he tells us, for you it is safe. It's a safeguard.

You need it. Repetition is not or should not be tedious and boring. We should not regard it that way. It is a safeguard in our lives against error. It is a safeguard against dangerous things because, number one, and we need to understand that we don't listen as well as we should. Many times when we are hearing the truth of God presented, our mind wanders, our acting elements come in, we're thinking about other things and we're missing what is being said. So, of course, repetition is very helpful in those situations to fill in the gaps of what has been said before, but we missed it. Repetition is valuable because we do not comprehend everything we hear the first time.

You know that, don't you? Think about the disciples and how many times Jesus Christ told them something and they missed it and He told them again and they missed it and He told them again and they missed it. I'm going to Jerusalem to die and then after three days I'll rise again from the dead. And a few days later He says, I'm going to Jerusalem to die and three days later I'll rise again from the dead. What?

What are you talking about? They missed it the first time, they missed it the second time, they missed it the third time. Repetition for them was necessary, it was a safeguard. It's necessary because we do not remember as well as we wish, even when we hear things and do hear them. We don't necessarily retain them, we don't always remember them, do we? Be honest, we don't remember all that we have heard and therefore we need to hear things again and especially those things which are important. And finally, repetition is important because we do not all learn at the same pace. We're thinking now not about the individual here but about the congregation and this is going out, this letter is being read to the church at Philippi and there are some people there who learn quickly and remember admirably and then there are other people who are a little bit slower. Now we're mindful of our brothers and sisters in Christ and we want everybody to understand. We want to bring everybody along and so please excuse the repetition if it's something you already know but it's needed by one or more of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

So to say the same things again is not tedious for me and it's safe for you. Which leads me to conclude that novelty is an attraction to carnal minds but is seldom beneficial to the truth. A lot of people are always running after that new thing. Something new, something exciting. Sometimes you see that in the way people run from this church to that church to the other church to the other church. Something different over here, something new over here, something novel over here. Well, if it is a solid Bible preaching church, whatever elements are new and novel are very superficial and really are not the important thing. What's important is the abiding, eternal Word of God which does not change.

It has not changed. It is not novel. It's the truth of God that we need again and again and again and again. In fact, I think I would conclude that listeners who complain about repetition are often showing a mark of immaturity and pride. They think they know more than they truly know and that's bad.

It's bad enough not to know but it's worse to think you know and not know. Just like Jesus said, it's bad to be spiritually blind but it's worse when you think you see and then you lead others into the same ditch that you're going into. Godly humility receives repetition with thankful appreciation and profit. But I think there's also a word here for teachers and that is repetition is not carried out necessarily by repeating the same exact words over and over and over. That could become vain repetition that Christ warns against. It is the same truths presented with different words from a new and fresh perspective. That's actually the way the Bible is written.

It's a big book, a book of 66 books as you know. There's a lot in there, Old Testament, New Testament, a lot of things. But if you really pay close attention, you'll realize that an awful lot of what you've got from Genesis to Revelation are the same truths stated this way in this book and the same truth stated another way in another book. The same truth that is presented in these words in this particular passage and then is illustrated perhaps in an entirely different way in another passage but it's the same truth again and again and again and again but not necessarily with the same words but often from a different and fresh perspective and I think that's what Paul has in mind when he says for me to repeat the same things is not tedious and one reason it's not tedious is because sometimes I say it this way and sometimes I say it that way. Sometimes I illustrate it from this portion of the Old Testament. Sometimes I illustrate it from something out of my life and my experience as he does here as the passage goes on and talks about his being a Hebrew of the Hebrews and so forth and so on and illustration out of his own life. But he's simply illustrating the same truth that the works of the flesh such as keeping the law, being circumcised, being a Pharisee, these things out of his own life are of no value when it comes to salvation and to things which are eternal. And so stating it one way as he does in our text this morning, he illustrates it another way out of his life in the verses to follow and he will state it yet other ways in other portions of scripture in essence repeating the same things again but in a fresh and different way each time. So for teachers of the word consider that as you consider the subject of repetition.

But the point of all of this is that purposeful repetition is necessary to fasten God's truth into our minds. It's not unfruitful. It's not boring.

It's not tedious. It is necessary. Why do you say that? Because God says that. It's necessary. He knows how we're made. He knows how our minds operate and he tells us that it is necessary. But then we move in verse 2 into the necessity of appropriate warnings.

Beloved, or not beloved, he says that in verse 1, my brethren. But verse 2, beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the mutilation. The necessity of appropriate warnings, and this is certainly a strong warning, isn't it? Beware, beware, beware, beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers.

Beware of the mutilation. Any honest study of the Scriptures will tell us that warnings like this are a very common New Testament practice and actually a common Old Testament practice as well. As a great deal of what the prophets in the Old Testament wrote were warnings. Warnings about sin. Warnings about judgment to come. Study the words of Jesus. You'll find they are filled with warnings. Study the words of the apostles that are recorded in the Scripture.

You'll find they're filled with warnings. Study the other New Testament writers who are not apostles, but notice how many warnings they issue. Think about that little book of Jude, one chapter. Jude was not an apostle.

He was a half-brother of Jesus Christ who came to faith in Christ after Christ rose again from the dead, but became a leader in the church and wrote that little epistle of Jude. And he said, I really wanted to write about the common salvation, but there was something that was more important. And he starts warning about false teachers, and it's a strong, strong book filled with warnings just like this one that Paul is presenting to us now. But before we look at this warning, which is very strong, let me point out that this whole concept of warning people against false doctrine, warning people against professing Christians who will lead others astray, is a lost practice in many pulpits today.

It's not touched on. A number of years ago, the pastor of the largest church in America was interviewed on television and was asked by Larry King. That's how long ago that is, back when he was conducting his interview program, and asked him about preaching about sin. And this pastor said, oh, I never preach about sin. That makes people uneasy. That makes them uncomfortable.

They don't want to come to church to hear about sin, so I never preach about sin. In other words, nothing negative, nothing that would make people uncomfortable, no warnings, just positive, positive, positive, positive encouragement. That's what people need.

They fight the world in difficulty all week long. When they come to church, they need to hear encouragement. Now, number one, when we come to church, we need to hear the truth, whether it encourages or not.

That's what we need to hear, the truth. But number two, I have found, almost to my surprise, that many times when I have preached messages that I thought had a fair amount of warning and exposure of sin, and people have come to me afterwards and said, thank you for that, that was so encouraging, I'd say, what? I would not have classified that particular message as being an encouraging message, but it is, because truth received and applied into the hearts of believers is always encouraging. Where do we get the idea that talking about sin and warning against judgment is not encouraging? It is encouraging to people who believe the truth. Now, Paul tells us here that he is warning them again. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.

Specifically, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. Paul is describing his warning declarations in terms of repetition. Now, the question is, when did he do this before? What is he repeating? And if you look back in the book, you won't find anything that resembles what he is saying here in chapter 3 and verse 2. So this repetition apparently doesn't have to do with something he said before in the Philippian epistle.

So there are two possibilities. Number one, it may indicate a previous epistle that Paul wrote to Philippi that is unknown to us, a very distinct possibility. Or number two, maybe not or, it could be or, or it could be and, number two, it could refer to verbal warnings that Paul gave when he was in Philippi. So he may be saying, I wrote these things to you before, but we don't have that epistle.

He may be saying, I said these things to you before when I was with you, but I say them again. Here we go. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the circumcision, the mutilation. So appropriate warnings is a common New Testament practice. But I would secondly say that appropriate warnings require delicate spiritual maturity.

It's not easy for us to get the right balance. In other words, just as surely as there are those who completely ignore the whole subject of warnings and anything negative altogether, there are other people that that's all they do. That's all they know. They think that's their whole mission in life is to criticize and find fault and nitpick and constantly be talking against anything and everything that they don't think is exactly right. And that's not the way to approach it either.

How do I know? Well, because of the examples we've already seen in this epistle. How did Paul deal with preachers who had impure motives in chapter one, verse 15 and following? He said some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife and some from goodwill. The former preached Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my chains. Verse 18, what then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I scold, in this I expose, in this I denounce, in this I warn. No, in this I rejoice.

Yes, and will rejoice. He says something similar in chapter two that I won't take the time to read now in verses 20 and 21. And so there are times when Paul recognizes a problem, something that's not right, and he touches upon it enough so that people can see the warning and apply it to their lives.

But there's no denunciation here. In fact, he actually praises the Lord in this case that the gospel is being preached even when it's being preached by those who don't have pure motives. So how does Paul know what is what and which is which and when is when? How does Paul know when to denounce strongly and when to touch upon lightly without any word of denunciation?

And I can't answer that question in every detail, but in this particular case I think it's clear. When the gospel itself is being attacked, when the gospel itself is being distorted, when the gospel itself is being changed, that needs to be denounced openly and publicly and strongly. Because a false gospel will lead people to hell. Preachers who are preaching the true gospel with the wrong motives can be dealt with by the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ, and the message they're preaching God will still use to save sinners.

But those who are preaching a false gospel are going to lead people straight to hell. And so one requires a light touch, a delicate approach, and the other requires a bombastic approach, and we need the wisdom to understand when to do which. So appropriate warnings on the one hand are a delicate spiritual endeavor. It's not always easy to get the right balance.

But there are times, as in this text, when it involves a bold confrontational undertaking. Beware of dogs. Dogs in the first century were not cuddly little pets that people kept in their houses and petted and cuddled and coddled and tied them up so they couldn't do the things that otherwise they would do because they've got to always be looking after Fido.

Another subject for another day. But in the first century, dogs were not pets. They were nasty scavengers that rummaged through the garbage that got in people's way and even in many cases carried diseases. And so to call someone a dog was a strong term of contempt.

We know the Jews used that for the Gentiles. They considered them dogs. That means they considered them unclean, both morally and ceremonially.

And they were right in most cases. But Paul turns the tables and here he is labeling what we realize as the passage goes on. He is labeling Jews to be dogs. The Jews called the Gentiles dogs.

Paul is calling a certain category of Jews dogs. You are unclean. You are diseased. You are scavengers.

You are unhealthy because you are preaching a wrong gospel. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. These ones, these Judaizers, as we call them today, considered themselves to be workers of righteousness. They considered that what they were doing was adding an important element of the truth of the gospel that some were leaving out, namely that except you be circumcised after the law of Moses, you can in no wise be saved.

Paul said that is a false gospel. And those who preach that, whether they realize what they're doing or not, those who preach that are evil workers. You are working iniquity.

You are not workers of righteousness. Beware of the mutilators, my version says. That, of course, refers to Jewish circumcision. A rite, a symbol given by God as a sign of the covenant, the old covenant to his Old Testament people. It was from the very beginning to be understood as a symbol of cleansed hearts rather than removed skin. Deuteronomy 30 verse 6, and the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live. Circumcision was just a rite. It was a symbol that pointed to a spiritual reality. The need for our hearts to be cleansed, our hearts to be circumcised, the hardness of our heart to be removed.

But over the years it had morphed into an empty ritual that turned into serious deception. If you don't have this particular rite, this particular ceremony, this particular circumcision, then you have something significantly lacking in your relationship with God. You've got to add this to Christ.

Christ is not enough. And the Judaizers who were Jews who said they believed in Christ but were going around preaching the necessity of circumcision and the mosaic dietary laws and other elements of the law of Moses were imposing these things upon Gentile believers. Circumcision was never given to Gentiles of any kind.

It was a particularly Jewish requirement. And in doing this, they were seriously distorting the Gospels so Paul says beware of these people. They're like dogs.

They are evil workers. They are not performing a God-honoring rite. They are mutilators of the flesh. I can't think of a stronger denunciation of these false teachers than what Paul gives us here. But then in verse 3 he moves on to what is true God-honoring worship. And he says, For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. The nature of God-honoring worship, and he tells us first of all the people of true worship and secondly the marks of true worship.

And who are the people of true worship? Paul says we, himself, by nature a Jew who had been circumcised, and the Philippian believers, most of whom were Gentiles and who had not been circumcised. But Paul says we, Jew and Gentile, who believe in Christ are the circumcision.

Let that sink in. Because through faith in Christ we who have believed in Christ have circumcised hearts. Colossians 2 11 says, In him you also were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

He's writing to Gentile believers there. But faith in Christ has made you circumcised in the circumcision that really matters, that has nothing to do with a surgical operation. Yes, we, says Paul, are the circumcised. We who by faith in Christ are participants in the new covenant, not the old covenant of which the sign was circumcision, but the new covenant. We who trust in Christ are the circumcision. We who trust in Christ are, listen to me now, the true Israel of God. We are the circumcision.

Here's how Paul puts it in Romans 2 28 and 29. For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God.

Let that sink in. We who are believers in Jesus Christ, we who have been born again are the true Israel of God. We are the true circumcision. And we and we alone worship God aright. We're the only ones who are able to worship God aright. Now there's a lot of implications here.

I don't really have time to get into them much. A lot of debate back and forth, battling back and forth, and misunderstanding back and forth between dispensationalists on the one hand and those who embrace a more covenant theology on the other hand. And dispensationalists think that those who believe that the church, those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, have become the Israel of God are ignoring scripture, distorting scripture, denying scripture. And that's what I used to think until I kept reading scripture and studying scripture and finding verses like this. And there are many others.

And this is telling us that those who trust in Jesus Christ are the circumcision. That's pretty plain. That's pretty clear, isn't it? There's been a change.

There's been a change. And he goes on to tell us what the marks of true worship are. Those who trust in Christ are the true worshipers of God because, number one, they worship God in the Spirit, that is, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit according to the truth revealed by the Spirit. Number two, they rejoice in Christ Jesus, that is, they glory in Christ. They boast in Christ, in Christ alone. They find all of their joy and fulfillment in Christ. And number three, have no confidence in the flesh, in ceremonies and rituals like circumcision and others.

No confidence in human merit whatsoever. They trust only in the merits of Christ. They recognize that if we are depending upon our merits, whether it's baptism, whether it's circumcision, whether it's communion, whether it's church membership, whether it's the golden rule, whether it's keeping the Ten Commandments, if we're trusting in any of that for salvation, we are going to hell. Because try as you might in all of this, you can't do it perfectly, and God demands a perfect righteousness. That leaves us all out because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the perfect righteousness, which God demands, God has supplied in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to die on the cross.

He lived the perfect life. He's the only one who lived the perfect life of righteousness. And He died on the cross as a substitute in the place of those who trust in Him. So God demands a perfect righteousness, and those who trust in Christ have a perfect righteousness.

It has been imputed to us through faith, the perfect righteousness of Christ. So we don't trust in any of these ceremonies. We have no confidence in the flesh. It's not that we abandon works, but we place no confidence in them. It's not that we deny works.

We don't become antinomians. But it is that we perform good works out of love and gratitude to Christ, and recognizing that even there we fall short, but recognizing that the mercy of God in Christ Jesus covers all of that. It takes all of that into account, and that even in our failures in not performing the works of His workmanship perfectly, nevertheless, before the judgment bar of God, we have a perfect righteousness. We have been justified. We are as righteous as Jesus Christ Himself.

You can't get any better than that. Now, quickly, how does this apply to fathers in Father's Day? Well, I have some advice for you, fathers. And it is, first of all, fathers, you need to emphasize the true gospel with your family. You need to become a spiritual leader in your home. You need to lead your family into worship. You need to emphasize the true gospel, which is attacked openly on the one hand and undermined subtly on the other hand all around us.

And how do you do that? Read the scriptures. What else? Explain the scriptures. You don't have to be a theologian to do this. Do it on a simple level, but do it. How else? Sing songs with your family, with your children that have sound doctrine, not nonsense songs, not climb, climb up Sunshine Mountain.

But sing songs that have good doctrine, that teach the truth of the gospel in them. And don't be afraid of repetition. You can understand with your children how important that is. Now, dads, can you do that? Surely you can if you'll endeavor to and ask God to help you. Dads, are you doing that? Well, if you're not, get busy.

You can't make up for what you haven't done, but you can start today. And you can teach the true gospel in your home to your family over and over and over again. They need it. They need it as an anchor for their soul. They need it as a defense against the false gospels that are in the world today.

Number two, fathers warn your family of spiritual dangers. They're all false teachers all around to distort the gospel. They will hear them on the radio. They will see them on television. They have friends who attend churches where these false teachers are at work. Their friends will invite them to church because they've got a cool youth group that sings a Christian rock and has a raucous good time. And you better be on guard to defend your family against false teachers.

You better know what's going on. False teachers who distort the gospel, weak teachers who neglect the gospel, cool teachers who deflect the gospel. Everybody wants to be cool. I'd rather be saved than cool. I'd rather be righteous than cool.

I'd rather be going to heaven than to be cool and go to hell. And finally, fathers, avoid what I will call well-meaning Christian moralizing. What do you mean by that? Well, if we're not careful in training our children to do right, to live right, if we're not very careful in how we present this, we can leave them with the impression we don't intend to, but we can leave them with the impression this is the way you become a Christian.

By doing all these things. That's what Christians do. That's what Christians are.

So it's easy for them to get the wrong impression. This is how I become a Christian. And there you are. You have become a Judaizer, teaching them a false gospel, the gospel of works instead of the gospel of grace. So be very careful in how you present these things. You need to emphasize human sinfulness and inability. The world is emphasizing the opposite. Everybody's basically good. You can be whatever you want to be.

Have you ever heard anything that was more nonsensical than that? You can't be whatever you want to be. You can achieve. You can reach goals. You can have high goals.

But let's be honest. There are some things that you can't do. There are some things that you won't do. I cannot be and never could be a concert pianist.

I don't care how hard I tried. And I did try. I took a lot of lessons. I wasted a lot of my parents' money on piano lessons.

And it really wasn't a waste. It was good for me to learn that music. But there was no way under God's heaven that I could ever become a concert pianist. You can't be whatever you want to be, but you can be the best that God has created you to be, that God has gifted you to be, that God has enabled you to be. So emphasize human sinfulness and human inability. We can't do anything without Christ, not anything that's important. Emphasize our total dependence upon Christ and teach the good works flow from love and gratitude to Christ, not performed out of fear. God's going to get you if you do that.

Well, there's an area. There's a time for those kinds of warnings, but be careful. Or out of self-righteousness. If you do this, God will love you more.

If you do this, God will save you now. If you acknowledge that you can't do good, that you have no ability to do good, that you are a depraved sinner, hopeless apart from Jesus Christ, and you renounce all human effort and depend upon Christ and Christ alone, and then out of love for Him and gratitude for Him, you do these good works, teach that to your children and see what God may do. You don't have to be, I'm so glad for this, my closing words, you don't have to be a perfect father to see God use these efforts to His glory in the lives of your children. You don't have to be a perfect mother. Obviously, because there aren't any.

Not a one anywhere. And yet if you'll do things God's way, it's amazing how God will take and use those. So roll up your sleeves, fathers, and get to work and take your role, your God-assigned role, and do it to the best of your ability and depend on God to make it profitable. Shall we pray? Father, again we pray that you will teach us your ways and show us your paths. In Christ's name, Amen.