If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God." Many people complain that they do not understand the
Bible. Perhaps the chief cause of their
not being able to understand the scriptures is because the
scriptures are not written to them. The scriptures are not
addressed to them. If you look back at Colossians
1, we'll read to whom this epistle is directed, to whom it's addressed. In Colossians 1, Paul, an apostle,
verse 1, of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timothy, our
brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are
at Colossae. Grace be to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's not a harsh statement
that I just made. People do not understand the
scriptures because the scriptures are not addressed to them. They're
not written to them. They're reading somebody else's
mail. The natural man, now listen,
the natural man does not know the author of scripture. Sometimes
I get mail from people I don't know and I can't understand what
they're talking about. But if I get a letter from you,
you and I are friends, we've got some common ground. You're
talking to me and I'm replying to you. But they don't know the
author. You can't understand the scriptures
if you don't know the author. And another problem is they're
not acquainted with the subject of the scriptures. From Genesis to Revelation, the
scriptures have one subject, and that's Christ, to reveal
the Son of God. That's what the Old Testament's
all about. Someone's coming. And the entire Old Testament
of 39 books talks about him, to him give all the prophets
witness. That's what scripture says, to
him give all the prophets witness. They tell us who he is, they
tell us what his office will be, a prophet like Moses, a priest
like Melchizedek, a king like David, the root of Jesse, the
lion of the tribe of Judah, that's That's foreign language to people.
They don't know who the Lion of the tribe of Judah is, they
don't even know who the tribe of Judah is. The desire of all
nations, the cities of refuge, the Lamb's
flame, that's foreign talk. They don't know the author and
they do not know the subject. This Bible, turn over to Romans
1, let me show you this over in Romans chapter 1. It's gospel, the New Testament. Romans 1 verse 1, Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle separated to the gospel
of God, which he promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
concerning his son. That's what this Bible is concerning
his son. What about him? who was made
of the seed of David according to the flesh. He became a man,
a Jew, born of the tribe of Judah, the family of Jesse, the house
of David. And declared to be, he wasn't
made to be the son of God, he was declared to be the son of
God. He was made a son of man. If you don't know that, you can't
understand that language if you don't know who he is and why
he came and what he did. And here's another problem the
natural man has with the scriptures. He doesn't know the author, and
he's not acquainted with the subject concerning his son, and
he doesn't believe the scriptures or anything but the thoughts
of mere men. Now, if you think that this is
nothing in the world but the writings of men, well, put it
on the shelf and leave it alone. This is the word of God. All
scripture is God-breathed. God-breathed, and it's not a
book of good sayings, it's not a book of love stories, it's
not a book of history, it's a book of God. And that's the only way
you're going to be able, anybody's going to be able to get any understanding
from the pages of this book, is to know the author, know the
subject, and know that this is a supernatural book. This is given by God and preserved
by God. So my text tonight begins this
way. If you be risen with Christ,
if what we talked about this morning over there in verse 9,
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete in him. In verse 11, you are circumcised
in him. In verse 12, you're buried with
him in baptism and risen with him through the faith of this
powerful operation of God, then you listen. I've got something
to say. That's what, if you'd be risen with Christ. Otherwise, work your crossword puzzle while
we're dealing with this, because honestly, you've got to see that
it's God speaking, and he's speaking to some folks. And he tells these
people who are risen with Christ, to seek those things which are
above. Seek Christ in his righteousness. Seek him in his righteousness. That's what Paul was saying in
Philippians. Oh, that I might win Christ and be found in him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is by the faith of the Son of God. Seek him in his righteousness. Seek peace. Follow peace with
all men, follow peace and holiness without which no man will see
the Lord. Over here in Romans, chapter 14, seeking peace. Listen to Romans 14, verse 19. Let us therefore follow after
the things that make for peace, and things wherewith one may
edify another. If you be risen with Christ,
seek the righteousness of Christ. Seek the peace of Christ. Seek
wisdom. I pray for wisdom. I pray God
will give me wisdom. Don't you? Over here in the book
of James, he says in James chapter 1, if any of you lack wisdom,
ask God. Ask God. that giveth wisdom to
all men, liveth and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.
But ask in faith, and I don't waver. He that wavereth is like
the wave of the sea driven with the wind. Seek Christ and his
righteousness. Seek peace, follow peace, pursue
peace, tranquility in the heart, in the home. Seek wisdom, seek
patience, seek the heavenly country. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I wake with his likeness. And not till then. And then over
here in Hebrews 11, Paul talked about Abraham. Abraham was looking
for something. And he knew it wasn't here. He
knew it wasn't here. In Hebrews 11 verse 9, By faith
he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country. dwelling
in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob in tents, the heirs with
him of the same promise, he looked for a city, he looked for a city
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. So if you be risen with Christ,
these things we said this morning are true of you, then seek those
things which are above. where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. This is God's purpose for him,
to enthrone him. This is God's purpose for you,
to enthrone you with Christ. The scripture that Brother Chuck
just read, did you hear what he said here in John 14? The
purpose he has for us. He says there, set your affection
on things above, where Christ is. where Christ sits, where
Christ reigns, where Christ is exalted, where Christ is enthroned. Now listen, John 14, verse 2. In my Father's house are many
mansions, if it were not so many dwelling places. If it were not
so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. That's
God's purpose for you. Listen. And when I go and prepare
a place for you, I'm going to come again and receive you to
myself where I am, that you may be also." That's God's purpose
for you. So right now, seek those things which are above. Verse 2, set your affection on
things above. You notice I told you there's
some time ago, the word affection here is singular. It's not your
emotions. It's not your feelings. It's
not your passing fancy. Set your affection. Your affection
here is your heart, your heart. It's your vital concern. It is your most important interest. Set your affection on things
above. Brother Tom Harding Back years
ago, when he was still a member of this congregation, an elder
here, he came in my study one day, and he said something wonderful
happened to me yesterday. I said, what was it? Tom worked
for Walker Company. He had a van and all this equipment
in it, and he'd ride to places where bulldozers and backhoes
and other things were were broken down to fix them. They couldn't
haul them in here, so he'd go where they were. And he said,
I went out to this place, and I met a man that I've known back
in the past, back some time ago. And this is the first time I've
seen him in a long time. And he said he walked up to me,
and he said, hi, Tom, and we shook hands. Then he said, Tom,
I want to ask you a question. Tom said, what is it? He said,
Tom, what is the single most important thing in your entire
life? Tom said, I'm glad you asked.
He told me, he said, I always want to witness to people, talk
to them about the gospel, talk to them about Christ, but I never
had a fellow open my door that wide. What is the single most
important thing in your life? That's what he's talking about
here. Set your affection, your mind, your heart, on things above. That is the single most important
thing in the life of a believer, is to win Christ and be found
in him. And then he says, this is not
your single most important interest and heart, is not to be on things
of the earth. Now, there are some important
things on this earth. I know that. There are some important
things to me on this earth. And I'll name them, not necessarily
in this order. But they're things that are very
important to us, and they must be sought, they must be provided,
they must be cared for as good stewards. We're supposed to give
an account of our stewardship. And these things, our families,
wives and husbands, children, our friends, educating our children,
our food, clothing and shelter. Those things are important. Our
shelter, our homes, our farms, our land. These things must not
be neglected. You don't neglect your children
or neglect your home or neglect your work. You're supposed to
be a good employee, a good servant, a good boss, a good master. Whatever
you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord. Isn't that what scripture
says? Do it with all your might. God doesn't condone idleness. God doesn't condone slothfulness. God doesn't condone people neglecting
the things that are important in this life. He means for us
to give our best. Whatever we do, do the best you
can. But these things all take second
place, that's what I'm saying. Now here I'll give you two scriptures,
turn to Matthew 6. These things are important and
these things must be provided, cared for, they must have our
attention. But there's something more important,
there's something that comes first. In Matthew 6, verse 31,
listen to it, Matthew 6, verse 31. Take no thought, now we're talking
about anxious thought, anxious thought. Where are we going to
eat? What shall we drink? Wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For after these things do the
Gentiles, the pagans, seek. Your Father knows you have need
of these things, but seek ye first, that's the word, isn't
that the word? First, foremost, seek ye first. the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Seek that first and foremost. That's the single most important
thing in our lives, in our hearts, in our affections, in our minds. And these things will be added
to you. One of them is Matthew 10, and our Lord clears this
up so well here in Matthew 10, verse 37. Very clear now, very
clearly, Matthew 10, verse 37. He that loveth father and mother.
Do you love your father and mother? Oh my, yes. I think the older
we get the more we love them, the more we appreciate them for
who they are and what they are to us. But he that loveth father
and mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that loveth
son or daughter. Wouldn't you lay down your life
for one of your sons or daughters? Why, in a minute. He that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." That's
the key. That's what he's saying here.
Set your affection on things above, not primarily on the things
of this earth. This scripture over here in 1
Corinthians is one that a lot of folks don't understand, but
it's very clear. he can put these things in the
right places. In 1 Corinthians 7, verse 29,
and in preceding that it was telling young people to marry,
to go ahead and marry and raise a family, and there's no problem
with that, the bed is undefiled, marriage is holy unto the Lord.
But Brethren, verse 29, this I say to you, Brethren, the time
is And remaineth it both that they that have wives as though
they had none." Our interest in God and in Christ and in eternal
life has to take precedence over my care for my wife. It just
takes precedence now. I'm supposed to seek God myself,
my own heart, as if I didn't have a wife. I can't save her. I can't save myself. But my interest
is to be in him, his kingdom, as though I didn't have a wife.
And those that weep, weep. We've had some broken hearts
around here, and they're still broken, and we still weep. But
we look upon our relationship with him as though we didn't
weep, as though it never happened. That's right. And those that
rejoice, as though they rejoice not. We rejoice in young people
getting married, They have families and the babies are precious and
pretty and all that. But all this is going to pass
away. That's what I'm saying. All this is going to rot, decay
and not even exist someday. So don't set your affections. Don't let this interfere with
that. That's what he said. You be as though this didn't
exist. as far as he's concerned. That's
what he's saying here. And those that buy, you've got
to buy and sell. You've got to keep your businesses
going. But someday you won't. And you regard it, see if you
can get that in your mind right now, that this is just temporary. This is just right now. That's
eternal. That's what he's saying here.
And those that use this world, as long as we live here, we're
going to use it. We're going to use this well, but don't abuse
it. Don't let it come between you
and your relationship with the Lord. Don't let it occupy you
so much that you're unoccupied with him and his glory and his
word, because the fashion of this world is going away. Some of us older
folks are realizing that more than we ever have before. Isn't
that right? More than ever before. It's going away. For you're dead,
verse 3, you're dead. What does that mean, you're dead? Well, first of all, we're dead
to sin. Let me show you some scriptures, Romans chapter 6,
we're dead to sin. We're dead to sin in Christ. Romans chapter 6, verse 6. Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him. Our old man is crucified with
Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, and henceforth
we should not serve sin. You're not your own, you're bought
with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body which is his."
Now, he was dead, he was free from sin. We're not under the curse of
sin. I heard a preacher this morning
say on television he was going to preach today at his church
being delivered from the curse of poverty. God wants all of
you to be rich. That's not the curse we need
to be delivered from. It's the curse of the law. Poverty
is not my problem. Sin is my problem. But we've
been delivered from the curse of sin. You're dead. Sin has
no dominion over you. Not only that, but we're dead
to the law. Turn to Romans 8, over one page. Romans 8, verse
2. We're dead to the law, the law
of Moses. free from the law. In Romans
8, verse 1, it says, Therefore now, right now, no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and
death, free, free from the law, O happy condition. Jesus has
died, and there is remission. Cursed by the law, bruised by
the fall, Christ hath redeemed us once for all. Dead to the
law, dead to sin, dead to the world. Paul said in Galatians,
I'll read this to you, Galatians 6, verse 14, he said, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus, by whom
the world is crucified to me, and I'm crucified to the world.
We're dead to the world. Dead to the world. We still live
in it. Our Lord said, I don't pray that you take them out of
the world. They've got to stay here and
preach and labor and serve my purpose. But I pray you'd keep
them from the world, from the evil one. We're dead to the world
in this sense. We're dead to its approval or
its rejection. It doesn't matter. If they approve
of us, fine. It'll make life easier. That's
all right, too. Life will be harder. They won't
be unbearable. Because we're dead to their approval
or their rejection. We're dead to their applause.
And we're dead to their frowns. And we're dead to personal goals
here on this earth. I don't expect to leave some
great heritage, do you? I don't expect to leave my name
on monuments, do you? I don't expect my name to live
very long after I'm gone, do you? We're dead to personal aims
and personal glory. Our glory is seeing him and being
made like him. Look at Romans 14, verse 7. See
if this doesn't fit all of us. For none of us lives to himself,
and no man dies to himself. Verse 8, Romans 14. Whether we
live or die, whether we live, we live unto the Lord. And whether
we die, we die unto the Lord. So whether we live, therefore,
or die, we are his, we are his. And he says in that same, go
back to my text, Colossians 3, you are dead and your real life,
spiritual life, is hid with Christ in God. Your true life, born
of the Spirit. We're born again, born of the
Spirit. We have eternal life. Eternal life is not how long
it lasts, primarily. Eternal life is the quality of
it. It's divine life. It's spiritual
life. It's the life Adam lost. Natural
men do not have spiritual life. They do not have eternal life.
They do not have divine life. By one man's sin entered this
world, and death spiritual death, so death passed upon all men. They are dead in trespasses and
sin. But Believers have life, they
have divine life, spiritual life, eternal life. It's what the world
doesn't have, it's born in us. And that life is hid with Christ
in God. And when it says it's hid, It
means this, it denotes the spirituality of it, the spirituality of it. It can't be seen. It's spiritual
life. Turn to John 17 and listen to
Christ speaking here of that life, that spiritual life. In John 17, verses 20-23. He said, Neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word, that they may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they may also be one in us. That the world
may believe thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou hast
given me, which thou hast given me, I have given them. That they
may be one as we are one, I in them. This spiritual life is hid with
Christ in God. It's eternal life, it's divine
life. It's not a profession of religion,
it's not a changing of the guard, it's not a reforming of our ways,
it's life! I in them and thou in me, that
they may be perfect in one. that the world may know you sent
me, and you love them as you love me." This is spiritual life. He'll never die. Never die. We'll sleep, but we'll never
die. That's that passage you read. He's not dead, he sleeps. Life is the sleep. He can't die. This life can't die. It's spiritual
life, and the mystery of it. Over here in Colossians, where
we are right now, Colossians Will I cross the page in Colossians
1 verse 27? To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery, this mystery
among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, Christ in you. That's the mystery of this life,
the mystery of Christ and his church, they're one, the head
and the body. That's magnificent. That's far
beyond religious decisions and departures and additions and
subtractions and all this stuff going on. This is life, spiritual
life, mysterious life, secure life. He said, My sheep hear
my voice and they follow me. I give them life, and they'll
never perish. And no man can take them out
of my hands, and no man can take them out of my Father's This is life. And the more we are aware of
this union with Christ, this life in Christ, the more our
minds are set on him and on things above. When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, we will appear with him in glory. And I tell you, the more we are
aware of this supernatural, mysterious, spiritual, saint The more our
minds are set on him and the less interest we have in this
world and its passing vanities and fashions. Verse 4, that's right, when he
shall appear, when he shall appear. Is he going to sneak in and sneak
out and nobody know he's here? Let's see. Chapter 4. I'm not making fun now. I'm going
to tell you a story that Ronnie Travant told us tonight in the
study. I feel sorry for religious people,
but this is still, you've got to hear this. Yesterday a dear
lady called the church here. See if I can tell this right.
Ronnie was here working on tapes. She wanted to speak to me. And
my brother Ronnie said he's over in his study at his home preparing
messages for Sunday. He works on Saturday on these
messages. Well, she said, maybe you can
help me. She said, I'm looking for my mother and I can't find
her. Has the rapture happened? And I didn't know about it. Mother
gone. Honestly, is that the truth?
Ronnie said, well, he's here. I'm here. That's so sad. But preachers,
oh, how they miss it. Christ is not going to sneak
in. Listen how he's coming. In 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13. Now, I would not have you to
be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye
sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. If we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also who sleep with
Jesus will God bring with him." Now, there's a host of people
coming when he comes, with him. This we say unto you by the word
of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain, if the Lord
Jesus were to come tonight, we'd be still here, alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord. We shall not precede, that word
is precede, them which are asleep, for the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout. You'll hear it, with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel. And you've never heard a trumpet
like this one. The trumpet of God shall sound, and the dead
in Christ shall rise first. His cemeteries are going to be
empty of believers. He'll come with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of and the dead in
Christ arise. And then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. When
he comes, we'll appear with him in glory. We're going to see
him as he is and be like him. What a transformation. What a
transformation. All right, verse 5 through 10,
there are four words here that will be the key to these
verses. The first one is mortify. Mortify
therefore your members. We're talking about the flesh
here now. Mortify therefore your members which are on the earth,
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence. covetousness," that's idolatry,
covetousness, "...for which things the wrath of God cometh on the
children of disobedience, in the which ye also walked at one
time when ye lived in them." We have a nature of flesh. This
is flesh now, talk about flesh. We have a nature of flesh which
is tempted, which is drawn, which is enticed. The appetites and
desires of this flesh, it's not spiritual, it's fleshly. And
these things are strong and powerful in every human being. And what
he's telling us here is mortify them. What does the word mortify
mean? It means suppress. Constantly
suppress these things. Constantly subdue them. Mortify
is deadly. Set your affection on things
above and mortify this flesh, and these fleshly desires, and
this human, human, human nature, how wicked it is, how sinful
it is, how difficult it is. Then verse 8, there's another
word, put off something. In those 3 verses, 5, 6 and 7,
he's talking about flesh. That's flesh. Fornication, uncleanness, covetousness,
it's flesh. But here is errors of spirit.
Those errors of flesh, mortify them, deaden them, put them out.
Now we're talking about errors of spirit. And there's six things
mentioned here, and three of them have to do with the heart,
and three of them have to do with the mouth. You see, now
put off these. Anger, just put them off. Wrath, malice, grudges. Anger, wrath, and malice. That's
heart sin. That's conditioned state of the
heart. Just put that off. Put that off. And here's the
other thing that has to do with the mouth. Blasphemy. Be careful
how you speak about spiritual matters, how you talk about God
and his word. Blasphemy. Be careful. filthy
communications out of your mouth. That's so prevalent in this day,
isn't it? It just seems like people are
talking more filthy than they ever talked before. Watch your
language. Our language ought to be seasoned
with grace. And then verse 9, here's another, lie not one to
another. Blasphemy, filthy communication
out of your mouth, and lying, exaggeration, that's lying, telling
things that are just not so. And here's the next word now,
here's the third one, seeing you put off the old man with
his deeds. Put off the old man. We're well
acquainted with the old man, aren't we? Paul talks about him
over here in Romans 2. Listen to him talk about this
old man. We're acquainted with our old man. He's been around
a long time. Long time. We know his will,
his wants, and his ways, don't we? And they're so contrary so
often to the things of God. the ways of God. Verse 18, Romans
7, I know in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
The will is present with me, but how to perform that which
is good I find not. For the good I would, I do not. The evil I would not, that I
do. Now if I do that I would not, it's not I that do it, it's
not this new man, this spiritual nature, this mysterious divine
nature, it's that flesh, mortified. It's that heart, spirit, errors,
anger, wrath, malice, put them off. It's so quick to speak,
put it off. Verse 22, I delight in the law
of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin, which is in my members. old wretched man
that I am." That's that old man. Ah, wretched. Job said, Lord,
I've heard of you, now I see you with my eyes, I hate my old
self. I hate this old man. Wretched. I hate him. Who's going to deliver
me from the body of this death? I had an illustration one time,
I don't have as much truth in it, but they told how that I
guess people are as cruel today as they were back then, but they
told how that they used to punish a man if he, I don't know if
he killed somebody or accidentally killed him or what, but they
would take that old body of the victim and tie him to this man. Tie him face to face, nose to
nose, arm to arm, tie him to this man and he had to go around
carrying that old body around as it rotted and decayed and
was filthy. And he had to carry it around
to the fire to kill him. But honestly, and they gave this
letter, so we're carrying around an old rotten man. That's right. You can't say anything good about
him. There's just nothing good can be said about this old nature.
So mortify it, put it off, put it off, and then this is another,
down here the fourth thing, verse 10, and put on. Keep putting
on. This is a put-on you can do.
It's not that put-on I was talking about this morning. This is a
real put-on. Put on the new man. And this new man is renewed. It's renewed. It's renewed day
by day. That old man has to be mortified
day by day. It has to be put off day by day.
It's not a once-for-all. But this new man also, he's renewed
day by day, day by day. Renewed in the knowledge, after
the image of him that created him, in the knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ, this new man. We're renewing it right now.
This day, as we met here, to study and to preach. Don't you sometimes when you
sit there say, I just wish I could just stay here in this state
and not have to go out there in all that mess any more. Not have to go and face that
outfit I have to deal with there, but any more, because I'm tired
of them. Just stay in this state of grace
and faith and isn't the love sweet here? I told Ash, when
we went home to church today, I said, I tell you, I look out
over that congregation And it's such a blessing of grace. They love each other. They love
the Word. I don't know anything about it. I don't see any division, strife,
do you? I just don't see it anywhere
among you. You live in peace, joy, grace, happiness, love the
Word. Nobody ever ever challenges the
pastor about the preaching of the gospel. They love it. That's
a mystery. That's a blessing of God. We're
not just hanging around, one day you will. One day that will
be our sole existence in his presence. Perfect joy, perfect
peace, perfect happiness and no sin. But not now. So we're just going to have to
mortify and put off and suppress and deaden and crave spiritual
growth. Stay in the Word. Don't let a
day go by, don't let a day go by that you and your wife don't
pray. Pray together. Pray. Read the Word. Don't read
some of the trash that comes into your home. Just cancel your
subscriptions and read the Word of God. Feed that new man. Put
on that new man. Put off this old man. Don't sit
there and look at that internet on things that they tell me are
on that thing. Don't do it. Don't let it upset
you. You don't food that old man.
He's got enough food just sneaking around. You've got enough to
keep him agitating you for the rest of your life just finding
it in the garbage. Put on the new man. That's an
order. He said, put off these spiritual areas
of anger and wrath and malice and blasphemy and filthy communication,
put on that new man which is renewed in knowledge after the
image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, this new man's ancestry hasn't got anything to do with
him, neither Greek nor Jew. Circumcision or uncircumcision,
no form or ceremony has anything to do with his creation. Barbarians,
we've been barbarians, haven't we? Your past sins and rebellion,
they don't count anymore. Scythian, you know what a Scythian
is? A savage. So culture, race, doesn't have
anything to do with it. And neither bond nor free, and
Christ had nothing to do with it. But in this new man, you
know who's all? Christ is all. Now where you
came from is to whom you came. It's not what you were, it's
what you are now. That's what it is. All right, I hope that's
a blessing. I hope the day has been as joyful
to you as it has been to me.