First Peter, chapter one. The title of our service this
morning is Be Ye Holy. Be ye holy. Look at verse 13. Wherefore? Gird up the loins
of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning
yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner
of conversation, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am
holy. Amen, may God bless to us this
reading from his word. The Lord Jesus Christ was and
is, a historical character. He was a walker upon this earth. And just like you and just like
me, he was flesh and he was blood. He was a man who lived and breathed
and laughed and cried. He got hungry. He got weary. He sweated. He got his hands dirty. He got
his feet dusty. And he was a carpenter. He was a worker with wood. Today
we would call him a joiner. Carpenter sounds a little bit
more prestigious, doesn't it? We'd call him a joiner. and we'd
phone him up to do something in the kitchen if we wanted a
new cabinet made or we wanted some worker to come along and
do something for us. That was the kind of man that
the Lord Jesus Christ was. And if you saw him in a crowd,
he wasn't the handsome one. And if you were looking for a
champion, You wouldn't choose him. But looks can be deceiving. And when courage was needed,
it was the Lord Jesus Christ who stepped forward. When compassion
was sought, he loved to the end. If a man was brought low, It
was never so far down that Jesus could not stoop to comfort him. And if a woman was cast out,
despised and rejected, she was never beyond the recovery or
the restoration which the Lord Jesus Christ was able to give
her. Our Saviour was loyal and honest,
and dignified, and faithful, and loving, and good, and kind. And all the beautiful qualities
of character that we could ever seek for in an individual. All
the loveliness, that ever we could want or desire
in a friend was found in the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they were inward. You couldn't
see them from the outside. In fact, the prophet Isaiah tells
us that he was despised and rejected. There was nothing in him that
we would look upon him and desire him. You have to get to know Jesus.
You have to get to know him before you begin to see the sort of
qualities that he had. You had to spend time with him.
You had to be quiet and listen. You had to wait patiently in
his presence. You had to stop. You had to get
alongside him and hear what he had to say and see what he was
doing before you would grasp and appreciate the depth of the
kindness and the gentleness and the love that this man had for
those around him. You look on the outside, then
you'll miss him. You'll miss who he is. You'll
miss what he has done. But you get to know him. And
oh, what a man. What a friend. What a revelation. What a revelation this man is
when we get to know him. How long does it take? A day? A week? A year? A lifetime? An eternity? We will never plumb the depths
of the loveliness of our Saviour in all eternity. But oh, what
a joyful experience that is going to be, to be able to sit at His
feet, to be able to walk with Him, to be able to share His
words and be in His presence for all eternity. But not everyone discovered this
side of Jesus. In fact, most did not during
his lifetime and most do not today. Because not everyone had
this revelation of who he was and who he is. In fact, it's very interesting
to discover that there were occasions when the Lord Jesus Christ purposefully
withheld that revelation from people. Withheld it. In fact, it said of him in John
chapter two, verse 24, but Jesus did not commit himself
unto them because he knew all men. Now, these people that the Lord didn't
commit himself to, it's quite an extraordinary verse that.
It's one of these verses for those free will churches, those
free will preachers to grapple with. Because what this verse
tells us is that while there were people who wanted to know
Jesus, who were impressed at Jesus, remember the seed that
was sown? Remember the seed that was sown
and it landed on the stony ground? and there was a shallowness of
soil there and it sprung up. Well, that's what the Lord was
talking about here. Here were people who wanted to
know Jesus. These were people who were really,
really, really impressed at the sorts of things that he was doing
and the sorts of things that he was saying. And they wanted
to follow after him. We are told that they believed
him. Well, these must have been really
wicked people for the Lord not to commit himself to them. They must have been the worst
of the worst, right? Maybe these were the Pharisees. That would
make sense if the Lord didn't commit himself to these people.
Well, no, actually, what the word of God tells us is that
these were people who believed in Jesus, but because he knew
their hearts, Because he knew that this was just shallow, that
this wasn't a genuine faith that had been implanted there by God
the Holy Spirit. Because this was just an enthusiasm,
he did not commit himself to them. But he drew back, he withheld
their understanding. He did not reveal himself to
these people. He did not reveal himself to
them. He did not show them who he really was. Do you recall that there came
a time when the Lord spoke to his disciples, and he asked them,
as they were gathered together, who do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? We read about that in Matthew
chapter 16. Verse 14 is where it starts, just a few verses.
It says there that the disciples answered the Lord. They said, these people, these
people that are following you, these people that are so excited
about what you're doing, these people that like to come and
eat the bread, These people that like to come and enjoy the fish.
These people that like to be around when you're sparring with
the Pharisees and you're healing the sick and you're doing good
works and you're performing your miracles. These people, they
say that you must be John the Baptist. Risen from the dead,
that wasn't a mean claim. If you believed that the Lord
was John the Baptist, You might think you were a long way down
the line to appreciating just how special this man is. John
the Baptist come back from the dead. Some said that he was Elias,
one of the Old Testament prophets. That's pretty amazing too. Do
you know how close you can be to thinking highly of Jesus and
yet not knowing who he is? Must be Jeremiah or one of the
other prophets. Oh, the rumor mill was going.
Ten to the dozen, they were, they were, bringing out someone
else that he could be. This is wonderful. The things
that this man is doing is great. But the Lord didn't commit himself
to them. He says to his disciples, who do
you say that I am? Who was it that answered? Who
was it that answered? Peter. Oh, Peter. All was the first up, all was
the first to speak, all was the one wanting to tell the Lord
what he knew. There's a lot like us. Peter answered and said, thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered
and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. Okay, where are we going with
this? If you want to have a revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to spend time with him.
You need to get to know him. But if you do get a revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, it will be because God has given
that revelation to you. Otherwise... like 101 different
denominations or 101 different churches, you will all come up
with some idea about the best way to do things, the right doctrines
to believe, the preaching and the ministry that we should follow.
And all it is is saying, he's an Elias, he's a John the Baptist,
he's a Jeremiah or whatever it might be. And you may well think
highly of the Lord. but they'll have missed his true
identity because it wasn't revealed to them by God because Christ
has never committed himself unto them. Now this is important. It's important. Do you see what
it's saying here? Flesh and blood cannot reveal
Christ to a man. I'm sorry, Mitch, but your ministry
last night at the rescue mission wasn't going to achieve anything
if it was just you that was speaking. And this message today doesn't
amount to nothing. Double negative in there. Doesn't
amount to anything. if it is not that Christ takes
his truth and implants it into your heart. It has to be a divine
work. It has to be a God-inspired work. Flesh and blood can't reveal
the Lord Jesus Christ to you. Nor our own flesh and blood. nor are pastors flesh and blood,
nor a priest, nor a pope, nor a professor, nor a charismatic
prophet. It has to be spiritually understood,
and that must be a spiritual work. If the Lord Jesus Christ
is ever revealed to you in his true identity, the Christ, the
Son of the living God, if he ever enters into your soul, if
he ever takes your life, as it were, by the scruff of the neck,
if he ever makes you one of his, if he ever commits himself to
you, then it will be because God himself
has revealed it. And that is a work of grace in
the life of a sinner. To discover the loveliness of
the Lord is to discover the love of the Lord. To know the personality
of Jesus is to know the person of Jesus. To experience the faithfulness
of Christ is to possess the faith of Christ. and it requires a
divine revelation. It needs to come by grace, it
needs to come by the gospel, and it needs to come by God himself. And Peter is talking about this
revelation here in these verses that we've read together this
morning. He is speaking about the revelation
of Jesus Christ. He says in verse 13, that just
means that you need to be careful. You need to be active. You need to be energized. You need to be putting your attention
onto this subject. You need to be thinking carefully
about these things. Gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober and hope to the end
for the grace that is to be brought unto you. When? At the revelation of Jesus Christ.
at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Whom do men say that I am? Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's what Peter
is talking about here, the revelation of who Jesus Christ is. That
spiritual work that comes into a sinner's heart and life and
mind. And what does he say about that
revelation when it comes? He says, gird up the loins of
your mind and be sober and hope to the end for that grace. that grace that has been given,
that grace which you have received. Listen to what he has just previously
been saying. He's previously, in the verses
just before, been saying that angels long to look into these
things. He's been saying that the prophets
that taught these things to the Old Testament children of Israel,
they wondered about what it all meant and who it was all for.
This prophecy of the Messiah, this prophecy of one who would
come. The word Messiah just means the chosen one, which is the
same as Christ, the chosen one. When they were talking about
the coming Messiah, they were talking about Christ. the Chosen
of God, the Anointed One, Lord, Jesus, Saviour, Christ,
the Messiah, the Chosen of God, the Anointed. So that when the
prophets spoke about something that was yet to come, as they
laboured to grasp the limited revelation that they had received,
they were eager to know They applied themselves to these things. The angels, as it were, look
over the windows of heaven and they are amazed at the things
that they see. As the gospel is preached and
as sinners come to the knowledge of Christ, as Christ is revealed
to men and women in the gospel, you and me today. So Peter is
saying to these brethren to whom he writes in Galatia, Cappadocia,
Pontus, Asia, Bithynia, these scattered strangers, these pilgrims,
he's saying, look, don't be sloppy about this. Don't be careless
about this. Don't be thoughtless. gird up
the loins of your mind. The angels struggle with this.
The prophets struggled with this. You need to give this your attention.
This is the very revelation of Jesus Christ. Flesh and blood
didn't give this to you. But my Father in heaven has revealed
these truths to you. To you amongst the multitude
of this world. To you. Not because you're smart
or good looking or intelligent beyond all your peers, but because
he loves you. He's given you this. What a privilege. Are we going to treat such a
gift meanly? Are we going to deal with it
thoughtlessly? Think seriously about this message. Think seriously about your soul's
salvation. about eternal matters, about
where you stand. We have all, as a congregation,
been involved in recent days and recent weeks with the realities
of living and dying, life and death. And it will come to us
all. These are serious matters. Give
it attention. Give it thought. gird up the
loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for the grace
that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
If the angels spoke of it, if the prophets spoke of it, if
the angels desired to look into it, ought we not to be diligent,
rigorous, careful, exact, particular about these things that Christ
has revealed to us of himself? Now I want to press you on this
because I need to. It's my responsibility to do
so. There is no excuse for sloppy
thinking in these matters. It just won't do. It won't do
for me and it won't do for you. There's no place for woolly ideas. The Lord has spoken. The Lord
has revealed Himself. In times past, He spoke through
the prophets, but in these last days, He has spoken by His Son,
Jesus Christ. What is that? The revelation
of Jesus Christ. And it won't do for us to be
woolly and sloppy about our understanding of these things. There isn't any doubt. There
isn't any uncertainty. The Word of God is clear. The
apostolic testimony is clear. The Word of God is clear concerning
the purpose of the coming of Jesus Christ, the nature of the
work that He did, the significance of the words that He spoke, the
extent of the work that He accomplished on the cross, the objects of
grace and who they are and how they may be identified and how
they are to be gathered. The elect are God's choice in
this world, not man's choice. The redeemed are a limited group
of people to whom these things are revealed. And not one of
us has a claim on mercy. Every one of us has a claim on
judgment. We all deserve it. We are all by nature the enemies
of God. And yet grace, grace from heaven,
grace from the eternal purpose of God, Grace extends irresistibly. It arrests, it converts, it gathers
in a people of God's choice from their rebellious state. And having
been chosen and redeemed and converted, having been gloriously
saved, We can never lose our salvation. We can never be found
wanting righteousness in the presence of God. And we should think seriously
and soberly about these things, and we should learn what it means.
It will comfort us, it will encourage us, it will help us, it will
sustain us. The more we know about the Lord
Jesus Christ, the more we will love Him. The more time we spend
engaged with this revelation that has been given to us, the
more we will be useful to him. The gospel is the revelation
of Jesus Christ, and the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
gospel. The Lord is thereby revealed
and known. He is known in the gospel. As
the gospel is preached, Christ is revealed. And you find his true nature,
you find his true person, you find his true accomplishments
in the gospel. And he is thereby revealed and
experienced in the hearts of men and women, young people,
older people, by the grace of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ
said to Peter that day, blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jonah. That
blessed was a weighty blessed. That blessed was a statement
by Christ himself that Simon Bar-Jonah, Simon Peter, was a
blessed man. You're blessed if you know these
things. You're blessed if you know Christ. You're blessed if
this revelation of Jesus Christ has been granted to you. Flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. The revelation
of Jesus Christ is a spiritual work of grace in the heart and
in the life of a sinner, and it culminates in eternal salvation,
the salvation of our soul. And if we do not know the Lord
Jesus Christ as he is revealed in scripture, If we think he's
a John the Baptist, great, but whatever, or an Elias or a Jeremias,
if we've got some warped view of who this one is, if we know
it's special, but it's never been revealed to us by God, then say what we will about him.
Say what we will by way of profession. Say what we will by way of testimony.
Say what we will by way of gospel. We do not know him as he has
been revealed in scripture. And we don't know the gospel.
Because if you don't know Christ, you don't know the gospel. And
if you don't know the gospel, you don't know Christ. Believing
the gospel is receiving the revelation of Jesus Christ by God the Holy
Spirit. It is all of grace because it
comes from God by divine revelation, because it is his divine will
to gift it and to grant it. It is his sovereign purpose being
unfolded and it is the evidence of his everlasting love towards
us. So when Peter says in this verse,
we hope to the end, we hope to the end, what he is saying is
that we trust what has been revealed. And we hold it to that end, we
hold it sure, we hold it true. When he says that these things
are ours to receive by God, Then he is saying we lay hold upon
these things and we trust them completely, we trust them perfectly,
and we trust them persistently. The saving grace that is bestowed
on us in the gospel changes our lives and makes us different. Now I wanted to emphasise this
a little, because I am certain that there is a lot of confusion
concerning the next few verses in this passage. Especially verses 15 and 16,
where it talks about being holy. Be ye holy, for I am holy. And some people will use these
verses to bring believers into a works bondage. Some people will use these verses
to bring believers into a burden about how they live their lives. to make them carry things that
they need not carry and feel dutifully bound to things that
are constraining when they should be liberated and when they should
be free and when they should be rejoicing in the things of
Christ. We must always see the word of
God in its proper context. Is Peter here instructing us
to live holy lives by doing holy deeds? Is that what he is saying? In this context, is that what
he is telling us? Is he calling for us to be obedient
to some law, to some standard of obedience? Is this the apostolic
gospel that he is about to preach to us? Well, let's see. Let's see what it says. Let's
see what it means in its context. The first thing I want you to
notice is that Peter is speaking about obedient children. Obedient
children. He says there, as obedient children,
not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. So these people are not ignorant
anymore. They have had a revelation of
Jesus Christ. That ignorance has been removed. And he is speaking to them as
obedient children. The Lord's people are obedient
children by faith. It is our faith that makes us
obedient. It is as we trust the Lord Jesus
Christ, as we trust in him and the things that have been said
and done, the things that he has revealed, as we trust in
him, that we obey the gospel and we are made holy through
our faith. We can tell that because Peter
uses this word obey in the context of the gospel in this book. For example, in chapter three,
verse one, he talks about those who obey not the word. Not to obey not the Ten Commandments
or who obey not the law of God, but who obey not the word because
it is the word that is to be obeyed. It is the gospel as it
is preached to us that is to be believed. And in 1 Peter 4,
verse 17, he says, that obey not the gospel of God. The good
news, there are those who obey not the gospel of God. And we can see this is clearly
explained in 1 Peter 1, verse 22. We didn't read down as far
as this, but look at verse 22. He says there, seeing ye have
purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit
unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another
with a pure heart fervently. Okay, so what is he saying? These
people have obeyed the truth. They are obedient children. They
have faith in God. Lord Jesus Christ. And that concurs
with our understanding that these people in verse 2 are recognised
as the elect according to the foreknowledge of God through
sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. So here we see that this is an
obedient people. The Lord's people are obedient
by believing the gospel revelation, and by the faith that they possess,
they have purity of soul. They have by faith the cleansing
work of God the Holy Spirit in their lives. They have by faith
laid hold on the benefits of the blood of Jesus Christ that
was shed upon the cross to cleanse us from all sin. And it is the
obedience to the gospel that is the converting and the transforming
of the Lord's people. such that they are fashioned
after the Lord. We are converted, we are transformed,
we are fashioned, made like unto the Lord Jesus, not the former
lusts of our ignorance. So the point that Peter is making
here is that because of faith being implanted in our hearts,
because of the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ to us,
remember what we said? That the gospel is the revelation
of Christ and the revelation of Christ is the gospel. As we
have faith in the gospel, we have faith in Christ. And that
is a divine work. And that work has converted us,
that work has transformed us, it has changed us into something
that we once were not. It has made us obedient children.
And that's what Peter says we are. Not for what we do, but
for what we believe, for the faith that is within us. We are made wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3.15. Made wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus. As we believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, so we are made wise unto salvation. 1 Corinthians 1.30, Christ is
made unto us. Wisdom. We're not ignorant anymore. We know him. We have learned
him. We have girded up the loins of
our mind. We have concentrated on Him.
We have had Him revealed to us and we have trusted in what He
has done. We have believed what He has
said and we have received the promises. We are sanctified in
Christ. We are cleansed in Him. We are holy and we are conformed
to the image of Christ. So 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9,
just flipping over the page, Peter writes, Ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation. That's what
we are. That's what Peter is saying.
He's not saying, I want you to be a chosen generation. I hope
that you will become a royal priesthood. I think that if you
work hard enough, you might someday attain to be a holy nation. He's
saying you are these things and you are these things because
of the faith of God that has been revealed in your life in
the person of Jesus Christ. a peculiar people, that ye should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvellous light." Next, look at this. We are called
by a holy God. We are called into this faith,
into this conversion, into this wisdom of the revelation of Jesus
Christ. We are called into this with
an holy calling. Everything about this is God's
work. Everything about this is holy
and sanctified and pure. It is a perfection that we are
called to. It is a spotlessness that we
are called to, a holiness, because Christ himself indwells us. And in that holy one, in that
holy child, in that holy man, in that holy spirit, we are Christ's
and his blessings and benefits are ours through faith. To Timothy
1 verse 9, the Apostle Paul writes, who hath saved us and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. So when Peter writes in 1 Peter
1, verse 15, He is saying to us that our lives are different,
our lives are changed, our lives have been transformed because
of this faith. Now our conversation is not simply
the way that we talk. It's part of it, but not exclusively. It's our whole life. That's what
is meant here by our conversation. It's our motives. It's our passions. It's our desires. Some of the
old men used to talk about our life, our walk, and our conversation,
and that was just a way of summarising everything that we are and we
do. And this holiness of life, it's
not possible in the flesh. We're going to have sin in the
flesh with us always, but this holiness of life, because in
the flesh dwelleth no good thing, will not be manifested in the
flesh, but it will be revealed in the Spirit. It will be evident
in our spirit. It is not possible under the
law because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. By the works of the law shall
no flesh be pure. By the works of the law shall
no flesh be spotless. It's impossible. The Jews found
that to be the case and every legalist In the history of this
world that has ever tried to bring themselves under the law
as a form of righteousness or sanctification have proved it
to be the case. It is not possible to mix works
and grace because, says Paul in Galatians 2.21, if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Whence this holiness then? Where
does it come from? Whose is it? If we're not going
to be able to do it by our works, by our actions, where are we
going to get this righteousness that makes us acceptable to God? It is gifted to us. It's what
was being talked about last night. It's imputed to us. It's imputed
because it is God's righteousness given to us. God's righteousness
laid to our account so that when God looks upon us, he sees us
with that righteousness. He sees us holy. He sees us without
sin. He does not reckon sin to us
because all of that sin has already been removed, it's already been
taken away and carried by another. He had our sin imputed to him,
he carried our sin on the cross and that sin is no longer imputed
to our account. And how do we enter into the
experience of that? That's all very well saying that
that's a sort of theoretical idea, a notion that some preacher
might construe or conceive. How do we experience that? We
experience it by faith. And that's what it is to trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ, to see ourselves as acceptable in
him. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the imputed righteousness of God that is brought to us when
Christ is revealed to us and Christ is revealed in us. 1 John
3, verse 2 says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. We're the sons, we're the family
of God. We're the sons and daughters
of God. We are. It's not a hope for someday might
be thing. We are the sons of God. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. Do you know that when the Lord
Jesus Christ appears, He's going to look like us. And we're going
to look like him. Pure, holy, spotless, righteous. Because this flesh will just
fall away. This flesh will be changed, this
sin, this body of flesh in which there is no good thing, it has
to be transformed. But that transformation is not
by our works, it is by the work of God in that final day. Every
man that hath the hope in him purifieth himself, even as he
is pure. And so that purity, leads us
into greater faith. It leads us on to understand
what it is that Christ has done for us, not making us pure by
the things that we do, but making us understand the purity that
we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. We carry about with us, brothers
and sisters, we carry about with us a body of sin and death. We do. It's what we are. And yet by regeneration, by being
quickened in our spiritual part, we are made partakers of the
divine nature. And that divine nature is holy,
and it's pure, and it's perfect. Having escaped, says Peter, the
corruption that is in the world through lust. How do we make
ourselves holy? How do we make ourselves pure?
How can we be spotless? How can we be clean? How can
we be without sin before God? Only by one way, in faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way that we will
ever be holy and pure before God. Does your sin weary you? Does your flesh burden you? Do you feel like you're dragging
along a big weight day by day? Do you ever think, oh, what it
would be to be able to soar in my spirit, to be able to rise
above this world, rise above these limitations, rise above
this body of flesh, this body of death? Do you long to be rid of it?
this state of corruption. I tell you, Jesus knows. Jesus
knows how you feel. He knows and he sees that you
are wrestling with this flesh right now. He sees and he knows
that day by day you labour under the limitations of this sinful
body, that you struggle with it constantly. He knows that. He knows it and he has ordained
it to be so. Why? Because he doesn't love
us? Because he's trying to be mean? Because he's being like
a school teacher with a big rod? Or a dad who's forgotten that
he should love his children and just beats them into subjection?
That's not our God. That's not our Saviour. That's
not the Jesus that we've got to know. Soon. he will bring an end to
this labouring. Soon, he will end it in our glory. But until then, all that loathsomeness, by reason
of our sin, which you continue and I continue during this present
time state, it has to be here. This will remain with us. It's the legacy of Adam, and
it's the infirmity of our flesh. But hear this, brothers and sisters,
Christ has redeemed you. from the everlasting evil of
this flesh by his blood. He has renewed your spiritual
part by his Holy Spirit. By his own resurrection from
the dead, he has given you an earnest, a token, a pledge that
as he arose from the dead, so shall you arise. on the last
day, and he will change your vile body so that it will be
like his glorious body. And you will learn by the daily
workings of sin in your life, you will learn because of your
corrupt and fallen nature, just how severe the battle is between
the flesh and the spirit. And you will learn just how great
Christ's love is in redeeming us out of the hand of our enemies. And from both those lessons,
heaven will be more welcome and Christ shall be more exalted
in our view. and more and more he will be
endeared to our heart every day of our life. May the Lord bless
these thoughts to us this morning. Amen.