Alright, the book of Philemon. This is one of my very favorite
passages of scripture. I read it often. Let's read this
entire letter. We'll go back and make a few
comments on it. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy,
our brother, and to Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow
laborer, and to our beloved Apphia and Archippus, our fellow soldier,
and to the church in thy house. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God making
mention of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love
and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all
saints, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual
by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in
Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation
in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by
thee, brother. Though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin
thee that which is convenient, yet for love's sake I rather
beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also
a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beseech thee for my son Onesimus,
whom I have begotten in my bonds, which in time past was to thee
unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me, whom I have
sent again. Thou therefore receive him that
is mine own bowels. whom I would have retained with
me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the
bonds of the gospel. But without thy mind would I
do nothing, that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity,
but willingly. For perhaps he therefore departed
for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever, not now
as a servant, but above a servant, a brother, beloved, specially
to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in
the If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee or oweth
thee aught, put that on mine account. I, Paul, have written
it with mine own hand. I will repay it. Albeit I do
not say to thee how thou owest unto me thine own self besides.
Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord. Refresh
my vows in the Lord. Having confidence in thy obedience,
I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I
say. But withal prepare me also a
lodging, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given
unto you. There salute Epiphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ
Jesus, Marcus, Aristocras, Demas, Lucas, my fellow laborers. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." Isn't that
a beautiful letter? That is a beautiful letter that
shows love between believers. And it also shows us a picture
of salvation in Christ And his intercession for his people.
And that's what I want us to look at this morning. Salvation
in Christ. His intercession for his people.
Now, you all know this story very well. Philemon is a wealthy
man who lived in Colossae. He had the church met at his
home. Paul had been there several times.
He preached there, stayed with them. Paul and Philemon were
good friends. And Philemon had a slave. Paul
knew him. He remembered him from when he
was there visiting with Philemon. The slave's name was Onesimus.
And Onesimus was a piece of work. He was not a good servant at
all. He eventually stole from Philemon and ran away. Well,
I'm sure that upset Philemon. I bet you there was part of Philemon,
so I'm glad he's gone. Cancer in the workforce is gone.
And Onesimus ran to the big city of Rome. He thought he'd get
to the big city and disappear into the crowd. But in the providence
of the Lord, old Onesimus ran straight into the arms of the
apostle Paul. and the Lord saved him. And now, Paul's sending
Onesimus back to Philemon. The Lord saved Onesimus, but
he was still Philemon's slave. He had to go back. But he's not
going empty-handed. In his hand, as he goes back
to his master, he's taking this letter of intercession from the
Apostle Paul. And in this letter, I want us
to look at Philemon, who represents God the Father. Apostle Paul,
who represents our Lord Jesus Christ. who represents God's
elect have been saved by Christ. At first, I want us to look at
Philemon, who represents God the Father. Philemon's a rich
man. He's kind, he's loving, he's
generous. He's refreshed the saints there
in town many times. And those who travel through
town, you can't travel through town without Onesimus stopping
you. He gets you to come in, have a hamburger, and we'll feed
you, give you a place to stay. He's not going to let you go
on your way until he gives you a bag of sandwiches and some drinks
and stuff to go with you. He takes care of folks. Wasn't
that God the Father? He's rich. He owns everything. It's all His. He made it. It's
all His. The whole earth is His. And us, we're just renters on
His property. And God is love. Philemon was
a loving man. God is love. That's why he elected
the people to save in the first place, because he's loved. Now,
God's holy. He's angry with the wicked, and
one day he will destroy them. But right now, he's holding back
his wrath for the elect's sake. Everything God is doing, he's
keeping this world spinning in his face for the elect's sake,
till he saves his people. And during this time, because
God is giving generously to his elect, he gives generously to
all men. Everything that God does for
this earth, to supply it with food and oxygen and water, He
does for His elect's sake, but all men enjoy those benefits,
don't they? God gives generously to all men.
We've got plenty of water to drink, plenty of food. The sun
shines, the seasons change, and the earth is always replenished.
This is how the Father refreshes the saints. Materially, He's
refreshed the saints. but especially how he's refreshed
his people in Christ. God the Father's preserved his
word, which tells us of Christ. This was written thousands of
years ago, and we have every word of it preserved, put in
a book we can hold in our lap. You can buy it for a dollar at
the Dollar Tree. God's word's been preserved so everybody can
have it. You can read it for free in Otel
most of the time. Go online and read it for free.
This is God's word that he's preserved to refresh His saints,
to tell us of the Lord Jesus Christ. This Word is how God
feeds His people, how He comforts the hearts of His people. The
Father sent us faithful pastors to preach Christ to us. He sent
us other believers to love and encourage one another along the
way. He's given us a place to worship. We can gather together
and worship how good God is. Well, what do you and I do with
all God's goodness to us? The same thing Onesimus did.
We steal from him and run away. Here's Onesimus, who represents
God's elect. We read in verse 11 that in time
past, Onesimus was unprofitable. He'd just been a bad servant. Isn't that us, by nature, a bad
servant? We don't serve God. The chief
end of man is to glorify God. And by nature, we don't. We're
ungrateful. We murmur and complain against
God's providence instead of glorifying him, giving thanks to his name.
And just like Onesimus, we've stolen from God and run away.
Now, Onesimus had to steal from his master. He couldn't run very
far, could he? He had to have resources if he's
going to run away, and he didn't have any of his own. See, he's
going to go all the way to Rome. He's going to have to steal from
his master. And he did. He stole goods, and maybe he
pawned them or whatever he did so he'd have the means to get
to Rome. Plus, when Onesimus ran away, he stole from Philemon
his property. Onesimus was the property of
Philemon, and he deprived Philemon of his property when he ran away.
That's you and me by nature. We've stolen from God our entire
lives. We steal God's air, His water,
His food. We squat on God's land. We don't
pay rent. We don't say thank you. And worse
yet, we've stolen God's glory. We give the glory for the weather
to Mother Nature instead of to God. That's stealing God's glory. We give glory for God's providence
to luck, not to God who works all things together after the
counsel of his own will. We give glory to salvation to
us and we might throw in, you know, some combined glory to
an idol, but never to God. Look at Romans chapter 1. This
is what we do. We give glory to the creature
rather than the creator. And when we do that, we steal
God's glory. Romans 1 verse 18 For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.
even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Anybody tells you they don't believe there's a God, they're
lying. God showed that to everybody. Because of that, verse 21, when
they knew God, they knew that there was a God, they glorified
Him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. and changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping
things, put a fish on the back of your car, that's God. How
foolish is that? Verse 24, Wherefore God also
gave them up to uncleanness, through the lust of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever." That's
how we've stolen from God. We've stolen from Him and we've
run as far away from God as we possibly can. At least that's
what we think. We think we've run away from
Him, but God's everywhere. We can't run away from Him. We
just don't know it until God saves us. But here's the problem. You and I are God's property.
Onesimus was the property of Philemon. Now, in this country,
we don't look favorably on slavery, but that's the deal. He was the
property of his master. You and I are the property of
God. We belong to him. He's the creator. He made us, and he can do whatever
it is that he wants to do with us. My property, some of it belongs
to me. I can do whatever I want with
it. Nobody can say anything about it. It's mine. God can do the
same thing with you and me. Whatever He does with us, it's
right. It's fine. Because we're His property. We're
His to do with as He pleases. Now, you'd think if I belong
to somebody, I'm His to do with as He pleases. You'd think I'd
want to please Him. But by nature, we don't. We haven't
done the first thing to deserve His pleasure. But you know, if
we're God's elect, He will not let us, he will not let his property
run away from him. Oh we'll try, but he won't let
us. When Onesimus ran away from Philemon,
what happened? He ran straight into all people,
the Apostle Paul. Now he knew Paul, Paul knew him,
he knew Paul. Paul had been there and preached
and things in the home before, but Onesimus never really listened
to him, didn't really have any interest. But he comes to Rome
and he stopped and he heard Paul preach now. Now, here's good
reason for us to never give up hope for anyone. What about our children? We raised
them under the sound of the gospel. They left. All hope's lost, isn't it? The
situation's impossible. How are they ever going to hear
the gospel now? They refuse to come. They refuse. They run away.
The situation looked impossible for Onesimus, didn't it? Philemon
thought, well, there's no hope for him to hear the gospel now.
Well, just wait. Just wait. God's able. Onesimus
ran straight into the Apostle Paul. And the Lord didn't reveal
himself to Onesimus in Philemon's house. He waited until he got
to Rome and heard the gospel. And there are several things
we can learn about salvation from the conversion of Onesimus.
And the first one is this. God saves sinners through the
preaching of the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing. And
when Onesimus finally heard, that's when he was saved. God
opened his ears and his heart, and that's how God saved him,
through the preaching of the gospel. God never saves his people
apart from the preaching of his word. Secondly, we learn this. God's elect are saved for love's
sake. Verse 9, Paul says, yet for love's
sake I rather beseech thee. You know, God doesn't start loving
someone when they believe and they're saved. A person believes
Christ and a person is saved. They're born again because God
already loved them from all of eternity. God sent his son to
die for them because he loved them. God sent the gospel to
them in power. He caused them to be born again
so that they believed because God already loved them. See,
all that happened because of God's love. God's elect are saved
for love's sake. Third, we learn this. Salvation
is a new birth. Verse 10, Paul says, I have beseeched
thee for my son, Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds.
You know, salvation is not fixing up the old man. Salvation is
not teaching the old man better doctrine. Salvation is not teaching
that old man to start acting better like you teach your dog
to do new tricks. Salvation is a new birth where
there's a new man born, a new nature that's born that never
existed before. And that new man has new motives
and new actions because he's a new creature. That new man
does everything differently than that old man did because the
slave person is a new creature. He's been born again. And that
new man is a son. He's not a slave. He's a son. Every believer is equally a son
and daughter of God. Every believer. They're all equally
loved. They're all equally part of the
same family. Paul called Onesimus, my son. My son. You know who else Paul
called my son? Titus and Timothy. Can anybody
be more different from Titus and Timothy than Onesimus? By
nature, by birth, by the way he acted up until now, yeah,
but not in the family of God. In the family of God, Onesimus
is just as much a son of God as Timothy is. That's right. And you who believe, you're just
as much a son of God as Abraham. That's right. You ladies, you're
just as much a daughter of God as Sarah. All equally, sons and
daughters. Fourth, we learn this about salvation.
Salvation is coming to Christ. Paul is sending an SMS back,
isn't he? Look at verse 12. Paul says, Whom I sent again.
Thou therefore received him, that is mine own bowels. Whom
I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have
ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel. For without thy
mind, without your willingness, would I do nothing. That thy
benefits should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.
Or perhaps, and you know when Paul says here, he doesn't mean
perhaps. You know, in scripture we read
about perhaps. It means this is a sure thing. He therefore
departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him forever. Salvation is coming to Christ
and abiding in him, staying in him forever. Onesimus, and this
is done willingly. Onesimus is going back to Philemon
willingly. And Philemon is going to accept
him. willingly and lovingly. When God saves a sinner, that
sinner willingly comes to Christ because now he's got a new nature.
That old nature wanted to run away from Christ. The new nature
wants more than anything. To be with Christ, to be in Christ,
and he comes willingly to Christ and the father willingly and
lovingly accepts him. For Christ's sake, Paul said,
you receive him just like you receive me. That's what the Father
does. You willingly come to Christ
and He willingly receives you, just like He received His own
Son. Now, we're lost in Adam, but
we're redeemed and accepted, brought back to the Father in
Christ. Paul says, now, I know Philemon, this is causing an
uproar in your house. This is causing disruption in
your business. But now he said, Philemon, listen
to me. All this happened in the purpose of God. God allowed Onesimus
to run away so that he'd come back to you and you'd receive
him forever and he'd stay with you forever. Isn't that what
God did in the garden? God allowed Adam to fall. He
allowed him to fall into sin and to death and to run away
so that the Lord Jesus Christ would come in the fullness of
time and bring his people back forever. Fifthly, we learn this
about salvation. When God saves a sinner, that
sinner becomes a profitable servant. Because he's now serving the
Lord out of a new and thankful heart. Paul says in verse 11,
he says, I know in the time past he was to thee unprofitable,
but now he's going to be profitable. In verse 16 he says, you're received
not just as a servant, but above a servant. A brother beloved
specially to me, but how much more to thee? Because both in
the flesh and in the Lord, he's serving. He's going to serve
you as a good servant, a good master, and he's serving the
Lord. If you look back at Colossians chapter 4, that's exactly what
happened with Philemon. Philemon came back, he served
his master, and he served the Lord. He served the church so
well, he became a leader in the church at Colossae. Look at Colossians
4 verse 9. With Onesimus, a faithful and
beloved brother, who's one of you, they shall make known unto
you all things which were done here." Onesimus is coming to
bring back a report. He's become a leader in the church,
serving the Lord by serving his people. Sixth, when God saves
a person, they're debt-free. Debt-free. I don't care how bad
they've been in the past, they're debt-free. I don't care how good
they've been in the past. They're debt-free. Both what
we call our goodness and what we call our badness, they're
both equally bad. They've both got to be paid for.
The debt's paid. No matter what it is that a person's
done in their past, that debt is paid. Put it behind you. The debt's paid. Why? Because Christ paid their debt
with His own blood. Look at verse 18. Paul says,
now Philemon, if Onesimus has wronged you, if he owes you anything,
put that on my account. I, Paul, have written it with
my own hand. I will repay it. Do you reckon
the debt's paid? Yes, it is. The debt is paid. Seventh, when God saves a sinner,
that sinner finds his joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. We see
the fullness of salvation in Christ and joy in the gospel
of Christ, the gospel that tells us of Christ. And as much as
we think we might learn about God's salvation, as much as we
think we might learn about the depths of mercy and grace for
sinners in Christ, I promise you, it goes a whole lot deeper
than what we realize. Look at verse 20. Yea, brother,
Let me have joy with thee in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in
the Lord. Having confidence in thy obedience, I wrote unto thee,
knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say." Not only is
God able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
brethren, God already has done exceeding abundantly above all
that we could ask or think, and we find our joy in Him. Well,
last, let's look at the Apostle Paul. who represents Christ our
Savior, making intercession for his people. As Paul intercedes
for Onesimus, he gives us a picture of intercession, the intercession
of Christ. And when Christ pleads for his
people, he pleads before the Father with authority. He pleads
with the authority of the Son of God. He pleads with the authority
of the Redeemer. Look at verse 8. Paul says, Though
I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin me to do that which
is convenient." Paul could have just told Philemon, this could
have been a much shorter letter. Paul could have said, I command
you to accept him. End of story. End of letter.
That's it. He could have commanded, but he didn't. Look over John
17. Even as Paul was pleading, he
had authority, didn't he? When Christ our intercessor pleads
for his people, he pleads with authority. Verse 24, John chapter
17, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am. Now, only Christ with the authority
of the Son of God can pray that way. You and I better never pray
and say, Father, I will. We can't do that. Our Lord could
because of who he is. He has that authority because
of who he is. Christ pleased for His people
with authority because the Father gave it to Him. The Father gave
Him power over all flesh. So He pleased with the authority
that the Father gave Him. And He pleased for His people
with authority. The authority and power of His
blood shed to pay for the sins of His people and the power of
His righteousness imputed to His people. He pleased with authority. And second, when Christ pleads
for His people, He pleads for love's sake. Paul says in verse
9, Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee. For love's sake.
Christ pleads for His people based upon the character of the
Father. The Father is love. And He pleads
based on His character. His character of love. And He
pleads for His people based on the Father's love for Christ.
The Father's love for the Son. loves the Son and has given all
things into his hand, he's going to give the Son whatever he asks
because the Father loves the Son. And thirdly, Christ pleads
for his people based on the Father's love for his people. Look at
John chapter 16. We saw this a couple of weeks
ago, our study in John. John 16, verse 26. Christ pleads with
the Father. based upon the Father's love
for his people. In verse 26, If that day you
shall ask in my name, I say not unto you that I pray the Father
for you. We talked about that. That means our Lord is saying
I'm not going to have to talk the Father into hearing you or
loving you, for the Father himself loveth you. He already loves
you because you have loved me and believed that I came out
from God. And here's our Savior. Father,
I'm pleading for those that you love. How hard is it for someone
to intercede with you for those that you love? And not very hard,
is it? He pleads for love's sake. And
he gets what he pleads for, for love's sake. Thirdly, Christ
pleads for his people based on him suffering justice for his
people. Verse 9, Paul says, Yet for love's
sake I beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the agent, and
now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ, Now, I can't help but
read this letter and think of Brother Henry. If he wrote me
a letter and asked me to do something, I'm telling you, I'd do it. Without
thinking about it, I would do it because I owe him my life. I owe him my life. Paul mentions
that to Philemon in a minute. Paul says, I love how he does
this. I'm not going to mention that
you owe me your own self-design. Just mention it to me. I'm not
going to. I'd do it. Whatever it is He
asks me, I'd do it. Because I love Him. I owe Him
my own self. And also out of emotion. Just
plain old emotion, I'd do it. If Henry Mahan wrote me a letter
saying, Frank, I'm asking you to do this, I'm Henry the aged. I mean, I'd just melt. I mean,
how quickly could I run and do something for the man? Out of
emotion. That's not Christ pleading for
His people. When Christ pleads for his people, I know there's
emotion involved in this exchange between Paul and Philemon. When
Christ pleads for his people, there's no emotion involved.
He's not asking the Father for emotional sentiment. He's asking
the Father for justice. Paul, writing this letter, was
a prisoner of Christ in Rome. Didn't do anything wrong. Why
is he there? Because he's for preaching the gospel. Our Lord Jesus became a prisoner
of God the Father in Jerusalem. Those Jews and those Roman soldiers
didn't throw an innocent man in jail. They didn't crucify
an innocent man. Christ was made to be guilty
and he suffered the full penalty of the broken law for the sin
charged to him and he died to satisfy that broken law. So when
he pleads for his people He's pleading based upon his suffering
for them, and he's pleading for justice. Father, let my people
go free. I became a prisoner for them.
Father, let my people live. I died for them. And he's going
to get what he asked for because he's pleading justice. Four,
when Christ pleads for his people, he pleads based upon the new
birth, a family Paul says, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom
I have begotten in my bonds. You know, the only people Christ
ever intercedes for before the Father is the children of God,
those who are chosen by God, those that he loved from all
of eternity. And our perfect Heavenly Father always hears
the cries of his children. And you can just rest assured,
he always hears the intercession of his son as he intercedes for
those children who have been born of the Spirit. Fifth, when
Christ pleads for his people, he pleads based upon his work
in his people. Verse 11, Paul says, I know Nesimus
in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now he is profitable, both
to you and to me. Now, we are not profitable in
ourselves, are we? What can we give to God? What can we do?
Nothing. We are unprofitable in ourselves, but every believer
is profitable in Christ because we've been made just like Christ.
God sees his people as precious jewels because he's made us just
like his son. He's not going to throw away
those precious jewels. They're profitable. Sixth, when Christ
pleads for his people, he pleads based upon the will of God. Verse 12, well, we read this
earlier, but Paul says you're going to do this. You receive
him willingly because it is your will. Now look back at John chapter
6. When Christ pleads with his Father for his people, he pleads
based upon the will of God. John 6 verse 37. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which is sent me, that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day." Now, when Christ pleads and intercedes for his
people, he said, Father, it's your will that these people be
saved. It's your will that they be raised
again at the last day. It's your will they have eternal
life. then they're going to have it because that's the will of
the Father. Seventh, when Christ pleads for
his people, he pleads based upon the union of himself and his
people. Paul says in verse 12, whom I
have sent again, thou therefore receive him, that is mine own
vow. You receive him as you'd receive
me. Verse 16 says the same thing.
I'm sorry, verse 17. If thou count me therefore a
partner, receive him as myself. How does the father love the
son? Infinitely, perfectly. Is he ever going to turn his
son away? Of course not. Then the father will never turn
anyone who's in Christ away because he loves them with that same
infinite, perfect love. wherewith he has always loved
his son. We are accepted in the Beloved through union with Christ. When the Father accepts me, he
is accepting Christ. And he can accept me as he receives
his own son because he treated his son at Calvary like he should
have treated me. Eighth, last, when Christ pleads for his people,
he pleads for his people based on his blood. that paid their
sin debt. Paul says, if Onesimus has wronged
you, if he owes you anything, put that on my account. I've
written it with my own hand. I will repay it. If, Paul, if
he's wronged you, there's no if, is there? We have
wronged God. How we've wronged Him, sinned
against Him. But Christ took the sin debt
of His people, and He put that debt on his side of the ledger. He said, now the debt's mine.
That's what Christ did legally. He changed the debt from this
side of the ledger to this side of the ledger and made it his.
But salvation goes a whole lot deeper than a legal transaction.
Salvation is personal. It's a personal transaction.
Salvation is a personal union between Christ and his people.
Salvation is the personal suffering of Christ. to pay the sin debt
of his people. And he took the sins of his people,
personally, into his own body on the tree, and put that sin
away with the suffering, the shedding of his blood, and the
death of his precious body. That's how the debt's paid in
full. So Christ pleads to the Father, and he says, Father,
accept these, your children. Check the record. There's no
reason not to accept them. It gets paid. The father checks
the record and says, yep, they're perfect. They're accepted. That's our salvation. I want
to give you this quickly. You know, that's also our example.
This is also our example of how we're to treat one another. This
letter wasn't just written to Philemon, was it? It was also
written to Athena. Who's that? Philemon's wife. She was wronged in this matter
too, wasn't she? It's written to her. This letter is written
to the bride of Christ, too, to tell us how to treat one another.
Well, how are we to treat one another? We're to forgive one
another for love's sake. Let love direct everything that
you do, the church of God. We're to forgive one another
for Christ's sake. And God, for Christ's sake, has
forgiven you. And we are to accept our brothers and sisters, just
like we're receiving Christ. How would you receive the Lord
Jesus if He is here this morning? Look next to you. Accept that
person the exact same way. Because if they believe they
are Christ, they are part of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Christ dwells in
them. You accept them just like you receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, somebody wronged you. If
they haven't, they will. We're still in this flesh. We
sin. Well, how do you treat that when somebody's wronged you?
Put it under the blood. God did. Put it under the blood. Put it under the blood of Christ
and count it paid. Count it paid under the blood.
Do you esteem the blood of Christ? Do you esteem his sacrifice?
Put it under the blood. All right. I hope the Lord will
bless that too.