And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.Now, brothers, I entrust you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified.
3 sermons cite this verse
… 32. Verse 32 says, now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, because that word of grace can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. over and over and over again in the book of Acts, the gospel is moving forward. The church is advancing. People are giving their lives, and it's all happening as a result of grace. don't miss the picture here. The early church didn't grow because they got a new young pastor. They didn't grow because they got a new hip worship service. They didn't grow because they came up with new methods to reach people with the gospel, new plans and programs to reach people with the gospel. They grew over and over and over and over again in the book of Acts because of grace. Why is that emphasized so much? Here's why. Because the one who gives the grace gets the glory. And if the reason why the church grows is because they get a new young pastor, then the young pastor gets the glory. …
… night and day for a period of three years I didn't cease to admonish each one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I did everything I could. I held back nothing. I gave you the word. You now have the word, and you're responsible to pass it on to those in your charge. So Paul's humility is first expressed in the fact that he was content to be a servant, a third-level galley slave, if you will. There's a second feature in his expression of humility, and it's in verses 3 to 5. He was content to be judged by God. He was content to be judged by God. Look at verse 3, but to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even examine myself, for I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted. …
… He says, verse 32, Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace. One translation of grace could be unconditional love. That's God's love for you. He loves you unconditionally, wholeheartedly, continually. This is not our church. This is God's church. and it's been a succession from John Collins, John Collins, Prebenry John Collins, retired as vicar here in 1985. And 37 years later, he's still going strong. So there's hope for all of us. 37 years. He's 97 and very godly. And he handed over to Sandy Miller, who is still going strong. He's 82. It's good to be a vicar of HTB. They live a long time. One lived to 104, I think. Anyway, enough of that. So it was Preventry John Collins, Bishop Sandy Miller, then us, and now Canon Archie Coates. But actually, it's none of our church. It's God's church. and that's how Paul describes it here, the church of God. You have, as Joe O'Sullivan, one who runs the Dalgarno, the church on the Dalgarno site, he said to us when he heard Archie was coming, he said, oh, we've got a new gaffer. …