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LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 78

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

78

CONVENTION SERMON

As His children we are heirs of His kingdom. We inherit
it; we do not deserve it. This kingdom is the rule of God in
both grace and glory, both here in this life and in the life to
come. “The kingdom ours remaineth,” writes Luther in
that great battle hymn of the Reformation. Since we already
know Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are assured of forgiveness right now. But it will all be brought to fulfillment when
we are taken to be with Him in the glories of eternity.
Forgiven! Account stamped “Paid in Full!” Sin no longer
charged against us! And because of this forgiveness today
we have another opportunity to slave for the great King,
Jesus Christ, and for one another. For if we truly love Him,

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we will also love one another. Not a condition of forgiveness, but a fruit of forgiveness, a fruit of the Spirit.
When we leave this convention hall in six more days, I
pray that those who do not know us, but will be watching
us, will be able to recognize us as Christians because of the
way we treat one another. Jesus seldom, if ever, agreed
with the Pharisees, but He told them the truth even when
they didn’t like it. But through it all, He loved them. We
know the truth—about ourselves. But we have been freed
from the guilt of our sin, freed to be Christlike. May He
bless us and what we are about to do for Him. Amen.
Robert T. Kuhn, President