We're turning again this morning to Philippians chapter 3, so Philippians 3 please. And we'll read just some verses towards the end of the chapter from verse 17 down to verse 21. So Philippians 3 verse 17, again let's give attention to the Lord's Word. Brethren, be fathers together of me, and mark them which walk. so as ye have us for an ensemble. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able, even to subdue all things unto Himself. Amen. And the Lord will bless the reading of His Word to our heart. We'll still ourselves once again, just please. Let's draw before the Lord in prayer, and let's ask Him to bring our wandering thoughts into captivity, elevate. our physical attention and take away that lethargy that often clings to the body and soul. and Lord, we'll engage your hearts in the word as it is sounded out. Let's pray. Our gracious God, loving Father, it has been our pleasure and our privilege today to sing, to be in thy house, to worship and adore thy name. We thank thee, Lord, for that glorious hope that is within our breast. We thank thee, Lord, for all that is ours, that great inheritance that is laid up, that will not be defiled and will fade not away. We thank thee, Lord, that we are in Christ, those who are thine. Lord, I come to thee and ask thee now for help. Lord, I need help. And I pray, O God, that you would cleanse me from my defilement in the precious blood, that thou would fill me with the promised Holy Ghost. By faith, I take the Spirit. And more to that end, I pray that you will help me to preach with clarity. I pray that you will help me to preach with power. I pray that I will preach in a manner that brings glory to thy name and which I am not a hindrance to the word that thou hast given. Lord, I pray that thou would take me as a vessel into thine hand. The Lord use the word to speak to all who are assembled, both saint and sinner alike, and we pray that glory and great honor will be brought to thee. So do our hearts good. May we feel the warmth of thy presence and the help and the smile of thy countenance. For this we ask in our Savior's worthy, his precious and all-prevailing name. Amen. This morning we are drawing to a close in this section of this epistle to the Philippians. in which Paul has been encouraging the believers to press on to Christian perfection and to that mark and the prize of their high calling. It is something that God desires, it is something that Christ has purchased, but it is something that is not attained in this life but the next. Yet that does not mean it is not something that we should not aim at or aspire to. In fact, every true child of God will know the operation of the Lord working in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure. And it is His good pleasure that you and I, we go on to perfection, that we reach Christlikeness. As I said, that will not happen until we get to glory. He will transform us more and more into the likeness of His Son, and at the same time, He will make sure that we are less and less conformed to the world. in progressive sanctification and becoming more holy, we notice that we are not passive in this. We are most certainly involved. If this was not the case, then Paul would have had no need to address and instruct the believers the way he did in this closing section in chapter 3. Now, the Lord, He uses means by which He sanctifies His people. And the Holy Ghost, He chiefly, He operates upon the instrumentality of the Word of God. We think of Christ's great high priestly prayer there in John 17, where He prayed, "'Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is true.'" But we also noted that one of the means which God uses is example. That is what the apostle Paul is writing about in verses 15 to 19. And in those verses I mentioned there's three types of Christians. There are those who are mature Christians, there are those who are model Christians, and those whom I label misleading Christians. The model Christians are those whose manner of living we ought to follow as an example if we are to go on in our Christian development. Then there are those who claim to be Christians, whose example we should not follow. And Paul points out those individuals in verses 18 and 19. And those were the verses that we were looking at the last time under the heading, The Enemies off the cross, and we notice there their description. They lived their life in a manner that was an absolute denial of both the power and the intention of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We then went on to consider their distinctives, their deity. Their God was their belly, their own fleshly lusts and desires. We notice then their disgrace. They lived in open sin. They had turned the grace of God into lasciviousness. And then we thought about their destiny, that their end is destruction. Their end is destruction, or I should say their distraction, that they mined earthly things. And then the final part was their destiny. that their end being destruction. They will share, those who have claimed to be friends of the cross, and yet their lives have denied the power and the intention of the cross, they will share the same hell with the infidel, the atheist, and the scoundrel, the pagans, those who claimed to be the friends of the cross, but by their lives they declared they were enemies. You see, the reality is our lives more than our lips will declare whether we are emissaries or enemies of the cross of Christ. Now, that brings us to the last two verses of chapter 3. And what a contrast we have to the two preceding verses, especially with respect to the future. Verses 18 and 19 are in parenthesis, and I pointed that out. I said it's as if the thought came into Paul's mind as he was speaking about good and godly examples. Well, there's also bad and ungodly examples, and he was using that to strengthen his point. So, really, the words in verses 20 and 21, they flow out from verse 17. You see, there we are told about walking in a manner that honors and glorifies the cross, a life that becometh the gospel of Christ. And that is such an important phrase in this whole epistle found in chapter 1, verse 27. And we've seen there, that's really where the book begins. After the introductory remarks, it's verse 27, living a life that becometh the gospel of Christ. And then it goes all into having the mind of Christ. And we looked at that great section in chapter 2. And then the examples of Paul and Timothy and Epaphroditus leading on into here to Paul's life. and how he was justified by the grace of God. He was pressing on. He sets before us these mature and model and misleading Christians. It all flows out of that phrase of how to live a life that becometh the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's really the key to this book. That's what Paul desired for these people. And the reason we are to walk in a manner that demonstrates both the power and the intent of the cross of Christ is because you and I as Christians, we are not of this world. We belong to a better land. We are strangers and pilgrims. This world is not our home. Christ will come again. This is the reality in which you and I are to live. And this is what Paul deals with and speaks about in verses 20 and 21. Let's read them. He says here, flowing out of verse 17, walking in a godly manner, pursuing Christlikeness and holiness. And then he says, 4. And here's the reason why we're to do that, why we're to live a life that becometh the gospel of Christ, shows the power and the intent of the cross, for our conversation is in heaven. From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. These words I want to consider this morning under the heading, citizens of the celestial city. That's what you and I are. We are citizens of the celestial city. Firstly, notice with me the city to which we belong. Verse 20, for our conversation is in heaven. This is the only place in the New Testament where we have this Greek noun translated conversation. Now when you and I, we think of the word conversation, we automatically begin to think about our speech. But as many of you know, that's not how that word is used in the authorized version. It denotes a manner of life. That's how the word is used in 1 Peter 1, verse 15. It tells us there, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, in manner of your life, how you live before men and before God. And while the Greek word is different in Philippians 3 in verse 20, the meaning behind it is the same. It's a word that speaks of citizenship or belonging to a commonwealth. Now, there are certain cultural indicators that reveal that someone belongs to a particular country or kingdom if those indicators are maintained. Israel, as we know, is much in the news in recent days. And the Jews are the one nationality that I would say, above all others, who have preserved their cultural identity throughout the generations, no matter where they have been scattered to, and no matter what culture they have been submerged in. They have retained the distinguishing marks and practiced the customs of their Judaism, no matter where they have been. They have a great fondness for and a longing for the land of their fathers. It's always upon their mind, and they have a deep desire, and it is the deep desire of most Jews, if not all, to complete what is called ilia, ilia. Now, that's a Hebrew word, and it means to ascend or to go up, and it describes the immigration of Jews back to Israel or returning from the four corners of the earth. In that Hebrew word, ilia, it was used to describe the pilgrimage of the meals as they went up to Jerusalem three times in the year concerning three particular feasts. Now last year, 2022, 70,000 Jews, they made Iliah to the land of Israel. And I suspect that more are making their journey there now. And when they get there, you often see them fall on the ground. If you've ever been to Israel, if you've ever been in a flight, you often see them fall to the ground right on the very tarmac of the runway with great delight that they have reached to them what is home. They have reached home. And this is all the imagery that Paul uses here. Paul, he uses this word in verse 20 because it's a picture that the Philippians, the Philippians could understand because Philippi was a Roman colony. Here and there strategic military centers were established, set up by the Romans. They made their colonies and they filled them with Roman citizens. Many soldiers who had served their full term in the army, they were given residency in this place and they were awarded with full citizenship there. They were effectively little Romans, though far from Rome. You see, all the distinguishing marks and the cultural indicators were there in those colonies, for Roman dress was worn, the Latin language was spoke, the Roman currency was used, Roman magistrates governed, Roman law was passed, and Roman justice was administered. Those who lived there were citizens of the Roman Empire. And with that citizenship came great Great privileges and honors, but also great responsibilities. The citizen of Philippi was to conduct their life in a manner that would conform to what Rome would govern. He had responsibilities and duties that existed because of his position as a Roman citizen, though he was not living in Rome itself. And that's the point that Paul is making to the believers here at Philippi. They were to walk in a manner that declares the power and the intent of the cross work of Christ. They were not to be like those who minded earthly things because they were citizens of heaven. Though at that time they were not in heaven, They belonged to heaven, and they were to make the mark or maintain the marks of one who was ascending or going up there. Now, for one to be a citizen of a country, they need to be born in that country. And that is what is called unrestricted birthright citizenship. There's 33 countries in the world that operate under unrestricted birthright citizenship. The U.S. is one. If you're born in a country, you're automatically the citizen of the country. There is what is called restricted birthright citizenship. For example, a child born in that country, they need to have one parent legally settled in that country for at least 10 years. And the UK is one of those countries. But either way, restricted or unrestricted, citizenship is a matter of birthright. And so it is to those who belong to heaven. See, by our birth, by nature, we are citizens of the kingdom of darkness, of Satan's kingdom. born with original sins. Sinners, they have all the marks, the distinguishing indicators that they belong to that kingdom, their conversation, their speech, that is, their conduct, their clothes. It all shows forth that they belong to that kingdom, by nature born into the kingdom of darkness. Therefore, for anyone to be a citizen of heaven, they must be born again. They need to be born from above. They need to have the principle, the new principle of life put within them. You see, when that is, and when that happens, they become citizens of a heavenly kingdom, and they begin to show all the spiritual indicators that they belong to a kingdom that is not of this world, that they truly are pilgrims, and they become like Abraham, who looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. They are as sojourners on the earth, and they desire a better country, that which is heavenly. And their lives show that. They are disconnected from, as it were, this world, so that they're not engrossed by the things of this world. Believers, we not only have a birthright to heaven, but we also have a legal right to heaven. See, when someone moves to another country, they've been living there for a while, and they want to become a citizen of that country, well then they must go through legal process. There are certain criteria that must be fulfilled. There's a standard that needs to be met, a test that needs to go through, something that needs to be fulfilled. And the same is true again for the citizen of heaven. There's a standard that needs to be met. There's a criteria that needs to be fulfilled. What is that standard? Well, it's perfect righteousness, of course. We're told that in Revelation chapter 22 and in verse 14, turn there please. And we see this is the criteria that needs to be met. This is the legal right to enter into heaven, God's standard, perfect righteousness. Revelation 22, and we read there in verse 14, it tells us there, blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. There's the right to enter heaven. Those who have kept God's commands have that right to enter in. Since God is holy, He cannot lower His standards, and nothing that defileth can ever enter in, and therefore, that creates a great problem for sinners, for we've all sinned, we've all broken God's law, we're all as an unclean thing. Well, that's the wonder of the gospel. Christ has shed His blood. He takes away our defilement by washing us in that blood, but He also has fulfilled the law. He has met the criteria, and that He did not for Himself, but for others. His imputed righteousness is our permanent residency card for heaven. It is the scroll that Christian carried in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. that he presented at the gates of Celestial City that allowed him to enter in. That's in contrast to a character in that book called Ignorance. For when he got to the gates, he was asked for his scroll, but he fumbled about in his bosom, and he found that he had none. And in that dream it was said that two shining ones came and took him and bound him hand and foot, and took him and cast him into hell. And it was said that even from the gates of heaven there was a way to hell, because that man had not the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can I ask you this morning, are you a citizen of heaven? Now I know there's many here and you're proud to be a British citizen. The consensus comes out, nationality, get it in there. Not going to say Northern Irish, that's a leaning towards that way. It's I'm a British citizen and you're proud of that, but can you say and answer that I'm a citizen of heaven? Have you both the birthright and the legal right to enter into glory? Little child, born into a family, born into this country, British citizen by birth. But can I ask you, little one, boy, girl, are you traveling with us to heaven? Are you a citizen of glory? You see, today, as the Americans would say, you could get your green card. your permanent residency for heaven, if you will trust in Jesus Christ and repent of your sin, you'll be guaranteed. You'll have the birthright. You'll have the legal right. You'll be a citizen of God's commonwealth, of His kingdom. For those of us who are members of the commonwealth of heaven, Our eyes, they lie beyond the horizon off this earth. And this is the contrast that Paul is pointing out and why we ought to follow godly examples and forget those things which are behind and keep on reaching onto those things that are before. Our longings and our desires are not our bellies. It should not be our fleshly lusts and desires, but to be Christ-like, to be at home with Him. We groan in this earthly tabernacle, not that we would be unclothed, and what that means is not that we desire death or even would want to die, but we long for heaven. Well, we will receive the prize of our high calling, and until we get there, we are to show the marks that we are residents of it. Reverend Greer said a number of weeks ago that we as saints do not think about heaven as much as we should. There's, of course, been a lot of speculation made concerning heaven. Much of it's fanciful. It's not biblical based. Through the Scriptures, we do get little glimpses through the veil that lies between eternity and time. But to be honest, there is more about heaven that we don't know than what we do know. We do, however, have enough revealed to us that cheers our hearts and gives us a desire to be there. Land that's free from sin, from sorrow, from sickness, where sorrow and sign flee away, where Christ is, and where the soul is made perfect in holiness. And it's good to know that heaven, heaven is our eternal home. There's been many, many hymns and songs about heaven that I could quote, but there's one that's been in my mind the last number of weeks. And the chorus often goes like this. Some call it Canaan land. Some call it Beulah land. It's peace beyond a river. It's a place not made with hands. It's that great celestial city with mansions round God's throne. But for all who know my Lord, they call it home. Are you going home? Let us preserve those things that mark us out as citizens of heaven, though we are not yet there. And while we live in this world, let's maintain our heavenly distinctiveness, though we're submerged in a world of darkness. It's the land or the city to which we belong. But secondly, this morning, we notice the coming for which we await. The coming for which we await. Verse 20 goes on to say, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, every commonwealth, every kingdom, will they have a head of state. And the spiritual kingdom is no different. Jesus Christ is the King whose coming we await. He sits in a place of power. He holds the reins of government. The verse says, from whence? In other words, from heaven. And that's where he will come from. And you know what that glorious truth intimates? He's coming from heaven. It intimates that he has passed into the heavens. It means that he has accomplished all that he came to do. He could not have entered heaven if he left one farthing of the debt of his people's sin unpaid, but he paid it in full. And what a comfort that is to our soul! He is the great high priest in the heaven, and by whom we can draw near with full assurance of faith. And he's coming from heaven, the heaven which he entered in with his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us. He's coming from thence, from glory. And we look to him to come according to his promise, just as he said, I will come again. The same Jesus that ascended up before the disciples He shall so come in like manner as they saw Him go. And when He comes, though the heavens received Him there, and when He comes, He will receive us." You know, there are many particulars that are debated over the coming of Christ, but this thing is certain, He will come again. And that was the firm belief of the early Christians. that expectation of Christ's return, it exerted a constant influence on their hearts and their lives, how they lived. You see, living in the light of the knowledge of Christ's return, it gave weight to every warning to not be conformed to this world, nor love this world. It impacted the character and the conduct and the attitude of the Christian. And Paul says that he, along with the believers, was waiting, watching, looking for this return of Christ. Now, it wasn't that they were standing there with their eyes fixed constantly towards the heavens, but it means that he was living in a manner so as not to be ashamed at Christ's coming. That's what it means when it says there, They were waiting, they were watching, they were living in a manner that they would not be ashamed, living in the light of the knowledge of it. It's always in their mind, the decisions they made, the conduct that they enacted in their life was always done with an eye towards the return of Christ. Now, the words we look for. There's one word in the Greek, it's made up of three words. The main word of this word, it means waiting in great anticipation. The word also contains two prepositions. One means out. One of those prepositions means out. And the idea is these are a people who wait it out. They're patient. They don't get agitated and leave off their Christian profession. And many times do we not see that. They're not like those who in 2 Peter chapter 3 into verse 4 who say, well, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were. The Savior spoke to his disciples in Luke 12 in a parable concerning individuals who lost patience. Now, a parable they said, my Lord delayeth his coming, and then they started to live in a manner, and they started to do those things that would have displeased their Lord. And when their Lord did come, they were found doing those things that they ought not to be doing. They were those who had not waited it out. They had no patience. They grew agitated. They left off their Christian profession. That's what we are not to do. We are to look for, we're to wait it out with patience. The other preposition, it means from. And that's a word that denotes looking away from inferior things, from those things that would divert our attention. We're to look from those things and we're to turn our eyes and our gaze and to look for the returning Christ. And if you put that all together, those prepositions, the main word, Waiting it out. Looking from things to a certain thing. It means the Christian is one who turns their gaze from lesser things and waits patiently and expectantly for the coming of their Lord. And that's what we're to do constantly. The verbs in the present tense. It's a mindset we are to develop. The attitude we are to adopt. We're not of this world and Christ is coming back and all these things shall be dissolved. You see, if that's the case, if that's how we live our lives, as citizens of the celestial city, with an eye towards Christ's return, it will no doubt affect how we live and the decisions that we make. And that's what we've been instructed in the past Lord's Day mornings from 2 Peter 3. The verses 11 and 12, it tells us there, saying, then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation, godliness, looking for and hastening on to the coming day of God. Daniel, Webster Whittle in his hymn, he exhorts us, let all that look for hasten the joyful coming day by earnest consecration. to walk the narrow way. Like Paul, we ought to be eagerly awaiting the return of Christ. Surely we see these things come to pass of which the Scripture speaks. Who knows? Which one of us knows where this Middle East crisis will end? But this we do know, the great King. He is orchestrating all events and He will bring us all to that great day when He shall split the eastern skies and He shall set His feet again upon the Mount of Olives and go through that gate, that eastern gate into the city of Jerusalem. That's why we are to look up because our redemption draweth nigh. And that time when he comes will be the culmination of our redemption, an aspect of which is mentioned in verse 21. And that brings me to my last point. There's a city to which we belong, the coming for which we await, and finally the change which we shall know. Verse 21, who shall change our vile body? that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue, even to subdue all things unto himself. Christ has redeemed our bodies as well as our souls. He has an eternal purpose and blessedness for our bodies. And since that is the case, we need to remember to glorify God in both our body and soul now, for they're not ours, they are the Lord's. And that puts an importance upon how we treat the body and how we use the body and what service it's employed. And that, again, strengthens the point that Paul is dealing with. Holiness and Christ-likeness. The body, it's not left out of this whole equation. God's a purpose for the body. God's an intention for the body. He has redeemed the body. The danger, if you remember, highlighted in verses 18 and 19, was concerning the libertines and essentialists of their day. They were turning the grace of God into the civiousness. They were using that as a license to sin. They were doing whatever they wanted with their bodies. When we are commanded to be holy as God himself is holy, it includes the body. Romans 12, those opening verses tells us that we are to present, it doesn't say our souls. No doubt that's included, but it says we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy, a holy body unto God, which is our reasonable service. And since this is what God desires for our bodies, that they are holy, He will ultimately fulfill that. And that will happen when Christ comes again. For then our bodies shall know a glorious transformation, a change. We're told that in this verse. Our vile bodies shall be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body. Now this expression, our vile body, we're not to think that our bodies are evil. like our hands or feet are evil, as the Gnostics taught. Does that sort of thinking, well, it leads to one treating their body with contempt, and then they abuse their body, or they despise their body, and they don't look after it, and they just do whatever they want with it. But that's not what we're to think about here when it speaks about our vile body. The word vile, the Greek word, it actually means low or depression. Therefore, we can speak of the body of our humiliation. See, with the fall and the entrance of sin, the result was our bodies became what they were not. They became the instruments of sin and wickedness. They became subject to sickness and pain and suffering, but our bodies someday, that's God's children, were on to go a great change. The Apostle John spoke about that in 1 John 3 verse 2, he says, Now, what does that change mean in real terms? We don't want to speculate. We don't want to guess. What does the change mean in real terms? What does the Bible reveal to us, this change that will happen to our bodies? Well, it means that our bodies will be able and will be fitted in such a way that they will be able to enjoy the presence of the Lord. They will not be consumed by the brightness of His glory. We also know from Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 42 and 44, there'll be some attributes that our bodies will possess, our changed bodies will know. Just to mention them briefly, that body that we will have, it will be incorruptible. A glorified body will not be subject to decay or deterioration or death. It will be raised in glory. Our body will have no defects or deformities. You'll be better looking than you've ever been in your life before. It will be raised in power. You know, we're often tired and faint here. Not right. But what do we read in the book of the Revelation? They'll serve him day and night. Raised in power, no more weakness on the bodily frame. It will also be raised a spiritual body. You see, here our bodies are subject to natural laws. You think about all that. And all that that means when you eat your food and all that your body is subject to, but in heaven they'll be made fit for heavenly existence. What a prospect lies before us. What a future is ours. And it'll all happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, for we all shall be changed. Dear child of God, afflicted, or maybe burdened down with some health concern, there's coming a day when you'll have no more appointments, and you'll have no more scans, and you'll have no more operations, and you'll have no more days of treatment, and you'll have no more medication to take, and you'll have no more aches, and you'll have no more pains. For we shall be fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body, both outwardly and inwardly. It's not that we'll be clones or exact replicas of our Savior, but we will be holy. body and soul. How is that change brought about where we're told it's according to the working whereby he, that's Christ, is able even to subdue all things unto himself. The Lord Jesus will do this for us. Won't be a doctor, won't be a nurse, we're so thankful for them. These are daily mercies and common grace that we have, but it will be the Lord Jesus that will do it, the One unto whom all power is given, the One who is putting all things under His feet, the One and by that power which raised and will raise the saints from their graves, it is by that power that He will work that change within our bodies in a moment, in a moment, forever. forever with the Lord and fitted and suited for that celestial city. You know, sometimes you see on television those body transformation before and after shots promoting some exercise or fitness program or equipment. But they often fail to live up to the hype, and if there is any effects, they're only temporary, but here is a lasting, eternal transformation that the Christian will know, the before and after. We are citizens of the heavenly city. And you know, there's enough revealed to us. There is enough, the wisdom of our God. There's enough revealed to us to whet our appetites, to excite our spirits, and to make us thankful. And yet, at the same time, there's enough withheld so that we don't sit down in discontent with pining, despair, while here upon earth. Isn't that wonderful? There's enough revealed, but there's enough withheld in order that you and I might press on in the knowledge that someday we will enter through the gates of that great city. Unlike the ungodly, our end is not destruction. Our end is glorification. What about you? Are you a citizen of heaven? There's some marks, distinguishing features, the cultural indicators there we might say in your life. That's what Paul is saying. This is why we are to live a life that becometh the gospel of Christ. It doesn't deny the intent and the power of the cross work of Christ. What's the intent? To make us Christ-like. And there's power in that crosswork to do that for us. And why are we to live in such a manner? Because our conversation. We belong to another world. We shouldn't put our roots here. We should grasp lightly what God gives into our hands, for we belong. to glory. Let's live as such, and may our living be signposts to point others to Jesus Christ. Let's bow in prayer and let's ask the Lord to bless all that's been of Him this morning. Father in heaven, we rejoice in the future that's ours, whose end is glorification, that's not destruction. Lord, I pray for those who are amongst us. Lord, I think of our children this morning, born into this land with many gospel privileges, many of them born into a Christian home. Lord, they need that heavenly birthright. They need that legal right to enter in. And I pray that you will work upon the hearts of our children and our young people. And Lord, we'll all be making our way to glory. Lord, we thank Thee for what You have revealed about heaven. We pray that You'll keep us from vain speculation. Lord, there's much we don't know. But we thank Thee, Lord, someday we shall know. And the Lamb shall lead us, Lord, from living waters unto living waters, from fountain to fountain. And we thank Thee, Lord, for that blessed hope. Lord, remember Your suffering saints. those who know the effects upon their bodily freedom as a burden to carry. Lord, I pray that this truth that is laid before us all will comfort our heart and help them, Lord, to keep pressing on. We thank you for your mercy to us and we pray, Lord, that you would bless us as we leave your house. Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit May the portion of us all bring us again to your house tonight, that we'll sit under the Word. And Lord, we pray that you will save the lost. Hear our prayer for all these things we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.