Okay, we're live. I don't know what happened. Something happened and my camera wasn't working, but it looks like it's working now. Sorry about that. I'm so sorry. Rich can put the thumbnail that he created on this one, but I messed up the other one. I don't know what happened. Okay, welcome to today's program. Sorry about that. We'll give everybody a second to get over to this live stream thing, because I had to cut the other one off. Sorry about that. I don't know what happened, I don't know what happened, I don't know why it wasn't, the camera was not turned on. So, yeah. Okay, so today's program is about gospel precision. in the Belgic Confession, Gospel Precision in the Belgic Confession. So I want to put a plug in for this wonderful book. It's called We Believe, and it's published by Ligonier Ministries, and they were selling these at the Winter Conference, which was called We Believe. It was about the importance of creeds and confessions. This is a wonderful resource. I've been using this, I'll probably be using this book for my devotions for years to come. And it has the Apostles' Creed, the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, the Definition of Chalcedon, the Athanasian Creed, Luther's Small Catechism, the Augsburg Confession, the First Helvetic Confession, the Geneva Catechism, the French Confession of Faith, the Scots Confession, the Belgic Confession, the 39 Articles of the Church of England, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Canons of Dort, the Westminster Standards, the Savoy Declaration, and the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith. I'm not sure why that's in there, but anyway. So those great confessions of faith are in there, and I was reading through the Belgic Confession, and I've read it before, and was just blown away, once again, at how clear it is on the Gospel, and all the key issues related to the gospel and how important it is that people hold to one of these confessions. It's vital that churches embrace a confession of faith and stick to it and actually hold to it and believe it, preach it, teach it as they exposit God's Word. We need to faithfully preach the gospel, faithfully preach the doctrines of our confession because that's what the Word of God teaches. So starting at Article 21, I wanted to read a little bit of the Belgic Confession, because it's just gloriously precise, as my own Confession of Faith, the Westminster Standards, are gloriously precise. But it's good to see that all of these Christian communions, working really somewhat separately from one another, came to all the same doctrines, all the same conclusions. If you practice sola scriptura, you will have a tremendous amount of unity in what you believe and in your theology. And that's exactly what happened in the Protestant Reformation. The people that were involved in that were reading the Bible, and they were looking to the Word of God, and they had an incredible amount of unity. and what they believed about who God is, who Jesus Christ is, about the incarnation, about sin, grace, salvation, justification, sanctification, the church, the sacraments, the Christian life, etc. And so I wanted to read through a little bit of this. Now, as I'm looking at these articles, part of me wants to keep backing up, backing up, backing up, but I just want to focus on a few of these. Otherwise, we'll be sitting here reading this all day. But I highly recommend the Belgic Confession. It's a great confession of faith. In fact, they put little historical introductions. They're very short and very good. Listen to this. Just three paragraphs. Guido Debris. was the name of the fellow, a French-speaking Reformed Protestant penned the Belgic Confession to provide the Low Countries, or Netherlands, with its own confession. Debris had been a student of John Calvin in Geneva, and he sent his confession to other Reformed churches for approval. At the time, the Low Countries were ruled by King Philip II of Spain, a fiercely devout Roman Catholic who saw himself as defender of the faith against the Muslim Ottoman Empire and the Protestant Reformation. Debris sought to secure toleration for the Reformed along similar lines as the French Confession, by portraying them as loyal and peaceful subjects in adherence to the historic Christian faith. Persecution of Protestantism continued, however, and Debris himself was even tried by the Spanish Inquisition and martyred in 1567." So the guy that wrote what we're reading here was put to death by the Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition. The Belgian Confession is one of the three standards of Dutch Reformed Churches, the three forms of unity, which also include the Canons of Dort and the Heidelberg Catechism. The Belgian Confession has been revised numerous times and is among the most widely accepted Reformed Confessions in the world. So, I'm going to read Article 21 and following just a few of these. Article 21 is called the Atonement. We believe that Jesus Christ is a High Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek, made such by an oath, and that He presented Himself in our name before His Father to appease His wrath with full satisfaction by offering Himself on the tree of the cross and pouring out His precious blood for the cleansing of our sins, as the prophets had predicted. Isn't that glorious? They see very clearly what all Christians have always seen in scripture, the penal, substitutionary, atoning work of Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus on the cross is a satisfaction of divine justice against our sins. It goes on, for it is written that the chastisement of our peace was placed on the Son of God, and that we are healed by his wounds. That's from Isaiah 53. He was led to death as a lamb, he was numbered among sinners, that's from Isaiah 53 again, and condemned as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, though Pilate had declared that he was innocent. So he paid back what he had not stolen, and he suffered the just for the unjust, in both his body and his soul, in such a way that when he sensed the horrible punishment required By our sins, his sweat became like big drops of blood falling on the ground. He cried, My God, my God, why have you abandoned me on the cross? And he endured all this for the forgiveness of our sins. Therefore, we rightly say with Paul that we know nothing but Jesus and him crucified. We consider all things as done for the excellence of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We find all comforts in his wounds and have no need to seek or invent any other means to reconcile ourselves with God than this one and only sacrifice, once made, which renders believers perfect forever." And that's Hebrews 10, 14. This is also why the angel of God called him Jesus, that is, Savior, because he would save his people from their sins. Isn't that glorious stuff? That's why this book right here, I want to put a plug in for it again, We Believe. It's published by Ligonier Ministries, Creeds, Catechisms, and Confessions of Faith. It's published by Ligonier Ministries, and I'll make sure a link to this is in the description of today's program. But I've been using, this is gonna be my devotional, probably for years and years to come. When I read my Bible, I've got my New Geneva Study Bible, got my 20 of the most important Reformed Confessions, that's gonna be my devotions. Because reading this stuff, it's like a salve to a weary soul. It's so good. Okay, Article 22 is titled, The Righteousness of Faith. Now listen carefully to how clear this is. The reason I'm reading this, I'm taking time to read this and comment on it, is this is the kind of clarity that is missing today. Even among many Reformed denominations and churches, you just don't get this kind of clarity in many places. So, it's always good to go back to these great Reformed confessions and benefit from the work that they did. Gotta get my afternoon coffee. Okay, Article 22 of the Belgic Confession, the Righteousness of Faith. And we believe that for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery, the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith that embraces Jesus Christ with all His merits, and makes Him its own, and no longer looks for anything apart from Him. For it must necessarily follow that either all that is required for our salvation is not in Christ, Or, if all is in him, then he who has Christ by faith has his salvation entirely. Therefore, to say that Christ is not enough, but that something else is needed as well, is a most enormous blasphemy against God. For it then would follow that Jesus Christ is only half a Savior. First time I read that when I was 23 years old. That's before we even had kids. I was sitting in a park. I was going to a church that just, I was starving to death for something good. I just didn't have anything. I was not being fed from God's word at all. And I discovered these reformed confessions and I blew through a, an ink cartridge on our printer at our house. Amy was like, what happened to all the ink? I printed off all these Reformed confessions. I didn't even know Protestants had confessions of faith like this. And I remember sitting in a park, reading through the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgian Confession, and I cried. Because this right here is just glorious stuff. Because it just touched my heart. I just thought, this is the thing I'm missing right here. I need this kind of clarity in my life. Listen to this again. We believe that for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery of Jesus dying for our sins and what it means to really know him. So the true knowledge of this great mystery, the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts, a true faith that embraces Jesus Christ. Don't think about that. A true faith that embraces Jesus Christ, meaning it lays hold of, it wraps its spiritual arms around Jesus and nothing else. not Jesus plus my works, not Jesus plus my covenant faithfulness, not Jesus plus my sanctification, not Jesus plus my fruit, just Jesus. Just Jesus. It embraces Jesus Christ with all his merits and makes him its own, and no longer looks for anything apart from him. For it must, now listen to the reasoning here, it must necessarily follow that either all that is required for our salvation is not in Christ, or if all is in Him, then he who has Christ by faith has his salvation entirely. Therefore, to say that Christ is not enough, but that something else is needed as well, is the most enormous blasphemy against God, for it then would follow that Jesus Christ is only half a Savior. The moment you add anything to the finished work of Christ, the moment you believe in Jesus plus anything, anything done in you or by you, what you're saying is that Christ is not enough. And God will not allow us to do that. It's Christ alone or you're lost. This article goes on, and therefore we justly say with Paul that we are justified by faith alone or by faith apart from works. I'm going to tell you all a story. Downtown Kingsport, doing some street evangelism. I actually have my daughter, Lily, with me. And I was talking to a guy. This guy, myself and four other people from our church have run into the same guy down there. And I talked to him for two solid hours. And he doesn't go to church anywhere. He's a seventh-day Sabbatarian. He thinks we should keep all the Old Testament feasts, festivals. You get into heaven by keeping the law and blah, blah, blah, blah. And he just hated the idea that faith alone could justify us. You guys, all you faith alone guys just have it so wrong. The Bible never says faith alone. And I said, okay. I said, you got me. It never says faith alone. I said, from now on in this conversation, I'll only ever say to you, faith apart from works. And he just sat there and kind of grinned. And I said, dude, if we're justified by faith apart from works, we're justified by faith alone. Faith alone is simply a different way of saying the same thing. That's why the Belgic Confession here, way back in the 1500s, says, Therefore, we justly say with Paul that we are justified by faith alone or by faith apart from works. However, we do not mean, properly speaking, that it is faith itself that justifies us. Isn't this amazing? Even Guido de Brief anticipated an error that was going to be made 100 years later by the Arminians. And Robert Gundry, in our own time, faith is righteousness, or faith is inherently our righteousness, or whatever. He says, listen to that, we do not mean, properly speaking, that it is faith itself that justifies us. For faith is only the instrument by which we embrace Christ, our righteousness. But Jesus Christ is our righteousness, crediting to us all his merits and all the holy works he has done for us and in our place. And faith is the instrument that keeps us in communion with Him and with all His benefits. When those benefits are made ours, they are more than enough to absolve us of all our sins." That's good news, isn't it? That's the good news. See, so much of what is preached and taught today with, well, faith is faithfulness, or your initial justification by faith and that's purely a gratuitous gift and the imputation of Christ's right, but then you get into heaven by your fruit. That's not good news. That's not good news. It's bad news. Faith alone justifies us and justification is the final judgment. It is the final judgment. Article 23, the justification of sinners. We believe that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins because of Jesus Christ, and that in it our righteousness before God is contained, as David and Paul teach us when they declare that man blessed, that man blessed, to whom God grants righteousness apart from works. That's Romans 4, 6. And the same apostle says that we are justified freely, or by grace, through redemption in Jesus Christ. You know, I love those terms. There's a couple different Greek words that are used, but my favorite one is doreion. The word, the Greek word doreion, if you've ever known someone named Dorian, it comes from that Greek word, it means gift. Doreion means gift, and we are said to be justified as a gift. And I've asked little kids this question. When your birthday comes, or Christmas comes, people tend to give you what? Gifts! And when you receive those gifts and someone hands you the gift and you, you take the gift, do you then ask them how much they owe you, how much you owe them for that gift? And they all laugh and say, no, we never asked that. We never say, how much do we owe you? I said, now let's say that you did say that. How much do we owe you for these gifts that you bought me? And they said, well, it was $16 and 25 cents for, for this. And you pay them. Is it a gift then? Is it a gift then? No. God will not accept us trying to pay for our salvation with our works or our suffering. We pay God with Christ alone. And Luther actually used that illustration. You pay God with Christ alone. And Christ alone is our righteousness. We are justified freely, it says, by grace through redemption in Jesus Christ. That's Romans 3, 25, 26, 27. The article goes on, and therefore we cling to this foundation, which is firm forever, giving all glory to God, humbling ourselves and recognizing ourselves as we are, not claiming a thing for ourselves or our merits, and leaning and resting only on the obedience of Christ crucified, which is ours when we believe in Him. That is enough to cover all our sins and to make us confident, freeing the conscience from the fear, dread, and terror of God's approach, without doing what our first father Adam did, who trembled as he tried to cover himself with fig leaves. God was showing the Gospel even in the Garden of Eden. Remember, He clothed them in the skins of an animal. They tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. That's all of man's religions illustrated perfectly. Trying to sew together fig leaves. Only God can provide the true covering. The article goes on here. In fact, if we had to appear before God, relying, no matter how little, on ourselves or some other creature, then, alas, we would be swallowed up. Therefore, everyone must say with David, Lord, do not enter into judgment with your servants, for before you no living person shall be justified." Okay, Article 24, the Sanctification Centers. We believe that this true faith, produced in man by the hearing of God's Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates him and makes him a new man, causing him to live a new life. and freeing him from the slavery of sin. Therefore, far from making people cold toward living in a pious and holy way, this justifying faith, quite to the contrary, so works within them, that apart from it, they will never do a thing out of love for God, but only out of love for themselves and fear of being condemned." Folks, that's the kind of piety that is created by all false gospels. If we believe that our works or what we do plays any role whatsoever in saving us, then our motive for doing good works will always be selfish. Always. And we'll always have a fear that we're going to be condemned. And therefore we will never do anything out of love for God. Ever. Everything will be out of love for self and trying to save our own skin. Listen to what it goes on to say here. So then, it is impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful in a human being, seeing that we do not speak of an empty faith, but of what Scripture calls faith working through love, which leads a man to do of himself the works that God has commanded in His Word. These works, proceeding from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable to God, since they are all sanctified by His grace. Listen carefully now. Yet they do not count toward our justification. for by faith in Christ we are justified even before we do good works. Otherwise, they could not be good any more than the fruit of a tree could be good if the tree is not good in the first place. So then, we do good works, but not for merit. For what could we merit? Rather, we are indebted to God for the good works we do, and not He to us. since it is He who works on us both to will and do according to His good pleasure, thus keeping in mind what is written, When you have done all that is commanded you, then you shall say, We are unworthy servants, we have done what it was our duty to do. Yet we do not wish to deny that God rewards good works, but it is by His grace that He crowns His gifts. And moreover, although we do good works, we do not base our salvation on them. For we cannot do any work that is not defiled by our flesh, and also worthy of punishment. And even if we could point to one, memory of a single sin is enough for God to reject that work. So we would always be in doubt, tossed back and forth without any certainty. and our poor consciences would be tormented constantly if they did not rest on the merits of the suffering and death of our Savior." Isn't that glorious? Spot on the money! Spot on the money! Okay, let me see who's over here real quick. There's Ben Rahi, you're new. And there's Rebecca, you've been on here before, yep. And there's Paul Gervey. I love using my Reformation Study Bible, yeah. Yeah, those creeds and confessions in the back are very useful. Very good stuff. And there's Tyrell. How's it going, man? And Isabel Dinoweth is citing James 1, 21 to 25, okay? And Aslan Rising. I have been shocked lately at how many I've come in contact with who attend church, who speak of the gospel, who yet deny original sin, and that faith is a gift. I know a lot of people like that. In the Southern Baptist Convention, they're Pelagian to the core. No original sin. Faith is entirely our work. I mean, it's, yeah, it's a strange time. For even my gratitude is imperfect and therefore incapable of meriting the favor of God. That's right. God help you if you're gonna trust in your gratitude to save you. We trust in Christ alone from first to last. It is by faith from first to last because it's only Christ's righteousness that can save us. Okay, Article 25, the fulfillment of the law. We believe that the ceremonies and symbols of the law have ended with the coming of Christ, and that all foreshadowings have come to an end, so that the use of them ought to be abolished among Christians. Yet the truth and substance of these things remains for us in Jesus Christ, in whom they have been fulfilled. Nevertheless, we continue to use the witnesses drawn from the law and prophets to confirm us in the gospel and to regulate our lives with full integrity for the glory of God according to his will." Article 26, the intercession of Christ. Listen carefully to this one, this is wonderful stuff. We believe that we have no access to God except through the one and only mediator and intercessor, Jesus Christ, righteous. He therefore was made man, uniting together the divine and human natures so that we human beings might have access to the divine majesty. Otherwise, we would have no access. But this mediator, whom the Father has appointed between himself and us, ought not terrify us by his greatness, so that we have to look for another one, according to our fancy." Now, why do you think they put that in there? They put that in there, because in the medieval Roman church, prior to the 1500s here, they really saw Jesus as almost unapproachable. He was kind of a tough guy, but you could get on Jesus' good side by going to Mary and going to other intermediaries, intercessors. And, of course, the Reformation recognized there is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, and that's what he's emphasizing here. He goes on, For neither in heaven nor among the creatures on earth is there anyone who loves us more than Jesus Christ does. That's beautiful. Although he was in the form of God, here's quoting from Philippians chapter 2, he nevertheless emptied himself or humbled himself, taking the form of a man and a servant for us. and he made himself completely like his brothers. Suppose we had to find another intercessor, who would love us more than he who gave his life for us, even though we were his enemies. And suppose we had to find one who has prestige and power, who has as much of these as he who is seated at the right hand of the Father, and who has all power in heaven and earth, and who will be heard more readily than God's own dearly beloved Son. So then, sheer unbelief has led to the practice of dishonoring the saints instead of honoring them. The Roman Catholic Church dishonors the memory of great Christian men and women who have gone before us. And they dishonor and are anti-Mary. Roman Catholic doctrines about Mary are anti-Mary. The true Mary has no idea that there are millions of people on this planet that pray to her every day, that literally worship her. You can say, well, we're not really worshiping her, we're giving her hyperdulia. I would challenge anyone who thinks that to get a copy of The Glories of Mary by Alphonsus de Liguri, sainted doctor of the church, and read the wall-to-wall blasphemy of that book. The prayers in that book are WORSHIP of Mary. treatment of saints dishonors them and the way that they speak of and about and pray to Mary and invoke her in her session is dishonoring to her Mary. But thankfully Mary has never heard a single prayer that's ever been offered to her. She would be grieved to the very depths of her soul and we know that there's nothing like that in heaven which is where she is worshiping her Lord and Savior. It says debris here in the Belgic Confession, Article 26, he continues, that was something the saints never did nor asked for, but which in keeping with their duty, as appears from their writings, they consistently refused. We should not plead here that we are unworthy, for it is not a question of offering our prayers on the basis of our own dignity, but only on the basis of the excellence and dignity of Jesus Christ, whose righteousness is ours by faith. Since the apostle, for good reason, wants us to get rid of this foolish fear, or rather this unbelief, he says to us that Jesus Christ was made like his brothers in all things, that he might be a high priest who is merciful and faithful to purify the sins of the people. For since he suffered being tempted, he is able, he is also able to help those who are tempted. And further, to encourage us more to approach him, he says, Since we have a high priest, Jesus the Son of God, who has entered into heaven, we maintain our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to have compassion on our weaknesses, but one who was tempted in all things just as we are, except for sin. Let us go then with confidence. to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace in order to be helped. And then just a couple more little paragraphs here and then we'll try to wrap up. The same apostle says that we have liberty to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus. Let us go then in the assurance of faith. Likewise, Christ priesthood is forever. By this he is able to save completely those who draw near to God through him, who always lives to intercede for them. What more do we need? For Christ himself declares, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to my Father but by me." You see, the New Testament itself excludes any other intercessors, any other mediators, than the Lord Jesus himself. He is very clear about this. There is only one mediator, there's only one way, there's only one method of approach to God, and that is through Christ. A couple more sentences. Why should we seek another intercessor? Since it has pleased God to give us His Son as our intercessor, let us not leave Him for another. or rather seek without ever finding, for when God gave Him to us, He knew well that we were sinners. Therefore, in following the command of Christ, we call on the Heavenly Father through Christ, our only Mediator, as we are taught by the Lord's Prayer, being assured that we shall obtain all we ask of the Father in His name. So that's just a few articles from the Belgic Confession. The Belgic Confession is an absolute goldmine. It's a goldmine. It's very devotional. And as I said, I'm going to put another plug in for this book, published by Ligonier Ministries. I picked this up here. When I went to the Winter Conference with a few of my kids, that was such a great time. It was such a good conference. In fact, Renewing Your Mind has been broadcasting the talks from the conference they did, the one by Burt Parsons on the importance of creeds and confessions, and they did the next two by Michael Reeves on God the Father and God the Son. And the reason they did that is because the the creeds follow that pattern. The ancient creeds, the really old ones, we believe or I believe in God the Father. It's interesting they don't start with I believe in God the Creator, it's I believe in God the Father. And then that really is a glorious revelation of who God is. He is eternally Father. And his relationship to God the Son is an eternal fatherhood. At no point in eternity past or during the life of Jesus does he become the Son. It's God the Father, God the Son. They've always had that relationship. It's not a temporal relationship, obviously. It is an eternal generation. But what an amazing thing to reflect on. God the Father. I believe in God the Father. Not the Creator, although He is the Creator. But I believe in God the Father. And His love for God the Son, His love for God the Son, is really what we ourselves end up being the objects of. Because once we are hidden in Christ, by faith alone, and are united to Christ, once we're taken out of being united to Adam and are united to Christ, the new Adam, the very same love that God the Father has for God the Son, now rests on us. How could I possibly think that I'm gonna go anywhere but heaven when I die? I trust in the finished work of Jesus. Do I see the spirit at work in my life and sanctifying me and helping me overcome sin? Oh, sure, definitely. But my hope of going to heaven rests solely, completely, and only on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I am in Christ and God the Father loves his son. and therefore he loves me because I'm in his son. A passage of scripture I read to my kids last night. We usually read through books of the Bible together, but once in a while I reserve the right to take a break and just read a passage that has been meaningful to me or that I read recently that I just love. Colossians 3, 1 through 4 is one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible. Listen to this. If then you were raised with Christ, In other words, you died with Him, you were crucified with Christ, you've been raised with Christ. He says, seek those things which are above. Think about eternal matters. Think about the things that matter the most, about your justification, about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Think about the people that God has asked you to love the most. Think about that. Seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. You know, it's like, it's hard to do that because I live on the earth. I'm not in heaven. Okay? I don't, I'm not there yet. I'm still alive. How can I, how come I set my mind on things above and not on things on the earth when The earth is where I live. I live here. We're told, set your mind on things above. That's what like this book here helps me do that. Cause it gets me into the scriptures and it's the collective minds of the best of God's people through all the centuries, reading the Bible, practicing solo scriptura and putting down in summary form, the wonderful truths that God has revealed in scripture. Set your mind on things above. The great creeds, confessions, and catechisms will help you do that because they're doorways into the Word of God. Set your mind on things above. So, scripture and great confessions help you set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. And what is the reasoning for that? Verse 3 of Colossians 3. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Think about that, reflect on that. As you struggle with sin, and as you go through the ups and downs of life, and you have good days and bad days, and sometimes you're happy and things are looking up, and other times things are so broken you wonder if they could ever be fixed, just remember something. You died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And because of that, verse four, When Christ, who is our life, appears, when Christ our life appears, you also will appear with Him in glory. The moment the Lord Jesus comes back, whether you're alive or dead, when that happens, if you're alive you will be instantly transformed into your glorified body, If you're in the grave, you will instantly be brought to life and you will meet him in the air. When Christ, our life, appears, you also will appear with him in glory. So listen to that again. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." I mean, those are some of the greatest promises I know of. That's a promise. When Jesus comes back, if you're hidden in Christ, if your life is hidden with Christ in God, when He comes back, you'll be with Him in glory. Remember what he prayed, John 17, 24? It says, Father, I pray that those whom you have given me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. That's a prayer request Jesus had. It's gonna happen. It will happen. That should comfort our hearts. So whatever you got going on, whatever stress and heartache or pain or whatever uncertainties you're dealing with, Remember that, remember those truths. All right, let's see who else is here. I know you're not a Piper fan, but he had a good series on this Hebrew passage. Okay, I'll take your word for it. There's Susan, hey Susan, good to see you on there. And Rebecca. Good, renewing your mind, I've always listened to renewing your mind. I've listened to that for years and years and years. I'm in a Discord server that is a Ligonier fan base. Yeah, I think, I've done something on that server, I think I did a video on that. Okay, Jennifer Herb. Good morning from Australia. From Down Under, wow. Welcome from Australia. There's a number of people. A number of people in Australia that listen to our sermon audio feed and also listen in on YouTube, and I'm thankful for them. They've been a real encouragement to me. Okay, let's see who else is in here. In the twinkling of an eye, that's right. You're welcome, Rebecca. Yes, indeed. You know, life sucker punches us sometimes. When you go through things that just, I'm like, Lord, I'm really looking forward to you coming back and putting an end to all of it. I'm thankful for the blessings, but as I get older, I'm coming up on my 49th birthday here pretty soon, and I always think, my life has gotta be more than half over now. My father was 81 when he died, so my life's definitely more than half over. I look 39, I have a story to tell you. I was driving with my daughter, who's home from Reformation Bible College in Orlando. She's home for a kind of break. And it's wonderful to have her home. She's grown a lot since she's doing her second year at Reformation Bible College, and it's just been so great. And I just love having her home, and she's such a sweetheart. We're driving along. She's like, you got a birthday coming up, Dad? I'm like, yeah. And she's like, how old are you going to be? And I said, How old do you think I am? Get this, she said, aren't you like 57? I was like, 57, are you serious? And she just laughed, she's like, I don't know, I thought, isn't mom like in her 50s? I said, honey, mom is 51. Yeah, I married a girl that's almost three years older than me. But she's always looked 15 years younger. When mom's in her 50s, I'm like, didn't you know your mother's older than me? She thought I was turning 57. I said, honey, you're off by almost a decade. Like, what's up with that? I mean, so, so Terrell, you just made my day. I look 39. Just remember, I've been this bald since I was 27 years old. So my hair went away. long time ago, and one of my little kids, who's 13 now, she used to, if I didn't shave my head for a while, she would look at my head and, Dad, your hair's growing back! I'm like, no, it's really not. And she would say, we would be doing family worship, and she would say, yeah, in heaven, Dad's gonna get all of his hair back. And so that was, Kind of an ongoing joke, but anyway. All right. Okay. Uh, sorry to get a little sidetracked there, but it's good to see everyone on there over there. Thank you for being here today. Sorry about the mix up at the beginning, but, um, love y'all. Y'all are an encouragement to me. Um, press on, keep the faith, trust in Christ alone. Don't let anyone mess up the doctrine of saving faith. Don't let anyone mess up the gospel. Die relying upon the finished work of Jesus Christ to save you. and recognize that your good works are the fruit, not the cause, of your salvation. Thanks for watching or listening.