In this, we're so thankful, in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Well, good morning, church. I'm glad you're all here. And particularly today we have some guests with us. I haven't had time to meet all of you, but you and you and a couple back here a while ago that I met. We are so glad you have joined us today by the grace of the Lord. Stolls are back with us from their trip to Ohio, and we're glad to have them back. Pat is trying to throw me off by sitting on this side this morning. I will not be deterred. But it reminds me of when I was here before some years ago, one Sunday, Valerie Berry and a couple of the Saban girls, in an act of love, I'm sure, got about two thirds of the congregation to switch sides. And they did. Tried to throw me off. I still preach my guts out and God did what he intended to do. I'm really glad to be here. I'm glad y'all are here. I'm glad the Lord is meeting with us in this place today. Let me pray one more time. God, thank you again for the freedom that we have to do what we're doing here. Thank you for the joy in Christ that I came with in my heart, and I hope others did. And if not, I pray that you would stir that joy, that delight in them in you. Lord, I do want to pray this morning for our brothers and sisters at the Grace Community Church in California, who for the first time in decades are meeting together without their beloved pastor John MacArthur being with them, because he's now with you. I do pray for the MacArthur family, for the church family there, God, that you would work in their hearts in this time of grief, but that even this morning, God, they could worship. I pray for whoever's preaching this morning there. Probably his heart is heavy. I pray that Christ would be lifted up again in these days of earthly loss, that you would guide them to new directions and new beginnings, and that they would all be reminded that the main thing was not Pastor John. The main thing is always Christ, as it is here today in this room. So may we lift him up and see him clearly. Amen. I want to ask you to turn, please, to the second chapter of the book of Ephesians. If you want to use the Pew Bible, you'll find this on page 976, Ephesians chapter 2. And when you get there, I want you To not start reading, I'm gonna read a couple other texts first and talk about a few things before we get to this text. And by the way, I don't like to promote my own preaching, but any of you who are regular attenders of this church who were not here last Sunday, I want to encourage you to listen on the website to last Sunday's message. There were some things in there, especially at the end, of encouragement and affirmation and exhortation to you and I want you all to hear that. So today we're back in chapter 2 after I went somewhere else last Sunday in chapter 4. But let me read something pertinent to today's text from Deuteronomy chapter 7. Just listen to this. God is speaking through Moses here specifically to Jewish people and He says, For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than other people that the Lord has set His love on you and chose you, for indeed you were the fewest of peoples, but it was because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery out from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt." That's Deuteronomy 7, 6 through 8. Now, two things I want to repeat very quickly from those verses. One is, God said it was because he loved them that he set his love upon them. And that's not double speak. It goes to God's motive for redeeming anyone and everyone whom He saves. He redeems those whom He loves, and He loves them simply because He chose to love them. And I know there are people who think, well, hey, you know, I know me. Of course He would love me. Look what I have to offer. No, there's nothing in us inherently as being good that would be attractive to God, or God would think, oh, if I save Larry, he has a lot to offer to the church. No, no, no. Rather, quite simply, God has chosen to love and redeem those whom He does love and redeem for no other reason than it pleased Him to do so. So those of us who are redeemed, let us not get the big head. That's an accurate and humbling piece of biblical theology. That God has chosen to redeem and does redeem those whom he does for no other reason than it pleases him to do so. A second thing I want you to remember from this section I read from Deuteronomy 7 is, In Old Testament times, God chose to have a special relationship with the Hebrew people, the Jewish nation. There were some dynamics He had with them that He had with no other peoples on the face of the earth. The word covenant doesn't appear in those verses I read, but that's what he had with him. God had a covenant relationship with the Jews and it carried with it certain promises and provisions that God had especially for them as a nation. God said it this way to the Jewish patriarch Abraham at Genesis 17, 7. I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you and their generations. It is an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you. And then at Exodus, chapter six, verse seven, God said, I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. He spoke that to the Jews. Now, always, Yahweh, the God of the Bible, the living and true God, He has been the only true God. Any other God, any other thing called a God, worshiped as a God, claiming to be a God, All the gods of other nations are false gods. And always, the way God has related redeemingly to individuals, no matter what their nationality, is that God saves people by grace and gives them the faith to believe in Him. a Savior of their souls. There's not a different Old Testament way to be saved and then Jesus brought in a New Testament way to be saved. It's always been the same way as some of the old divines used to say it this way. In Old Testament times, people were saved looking forward in faith to God's Messiah. And in New Testament times, we are saved by looking in faith to God's Messiah who's already come. There's always been faith looking to God. And also, always, God intended to grant His gracious salvation to certain persons, some of whom were Jewish, some of whom were not. Not all Jewish people are heaven-bound, even though God had that special covenant relationship with them. But to say it again, as most of you already understand, in a national sense, God has had this long-standing relationship with the Jewish people that was special in certain ways that were not special to other nations. And though we know that the God of the Bible has always been the only true God, it was so that the Egyptians and the Philistines and the Babylonians and the Amalekites, whatever gods they had, they did not look to Yahweh as their God. They did not have a covenant relationship with God. And we know that in the Bible, the common distinction between two groups is the Jews and everybody else. Often the Bible talks of them as being the Jews and the Gentiles, non-Jews. Or sometimes the Bible says it's the Jews and the nations, meaning those other nations who don't have Yahweh as their God. Now, with all that reminder and background, I want to turn our attention this morning to the second chapter of Ephesians. And if you've been here for the last month or so, you'll remember for just a quick review in verses 1 through 3, Paul tells those Ephesian Christians, and us, that before Christ gave us life, we were dead in our trespasses and sins, spiritually dead, all of us. And we were dominated by our sin nature and by the power of the devil. And then in verses four through nine, Paul gives us this great deliberate section that God gave us the faith to believe in Christ, through God's rich mercy and great love, He has made us alive together with Christ. This spiritual life that He gives, this being born again that comes through faith and by God's grace and not any kind of working or effort or merit on our part. And then we got to verse 10 that we talked about a couple of weeks ago, where God tells us through Paul's quill that those of us who are spiritually born again are created in Christ Jesus for good works that are prepared beforehand by God. And we should walk in them. We should live those works out. We should be doing those good works. They don't earn us salvation, but God expects us to be doing His good works. The next verse, where we start today, verse 11, starts with, therefore, signaling in light of what you just heard, now here comes something related to that. And if I were reading this for the first time, having just concentrated on that verse 10 about God saying, you were created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that you should walk in them, I'd expect God to say something like, therefore, here are some of these good works for you to be doing. or maybe a redoubled emphasis on the necessity of doing them. Therefore, in all the business of your life, don't neglect to be doing those good works that I prepared for you. Instead, look what Paul puts after the therefore. Therefore, remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands. He's saying there to the Christians in Ephesus, remember, don't forget, you're not Jews by birth. You're Gentiles. Which meant this, verse 12. that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, you were strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. Here's the paraphrase. You people You Ephesian Christians, you were not of the Jewish religion. You had no covenant promises from God to count on. You did not have Yahweh as your God. Therefore, you had no hope. Don't forget that. What a thing to say. How negative. how accurate but accusatory sounding, how deflating to say, don't forget, you had no hope. Sounds like a slap in the face until you read what comes next, verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ." What a powerful, beautiful, encapsulating phrase. You once were, but now are. Thank you, God. This is probably the greatest now are situation that anybody Not probably, it is the greatest now our situation that can ever be presented. That you are now near God. This glorious position of those who are in Christ Jesus. You used to be alienated from the living and true God. You were far off from Him, but now you've been brought near by the blood of Christ. Have you been brought near? Back in verse 11, surely we all appreciate that in the second part of the verse, when Paul uses the words, the circumcision, he's talking about the Jewish people. those who at the direction of God Himself underwent that physical act of circumcision, which particularly identified them as the people of God. The doing of that physical act is what he means at the end of verse 11 by the words, made in the flesh by hands. But a way to classify those people who had been circumcised would be to call them the circumcision or the circumcised people. It was the Jews. Now, from sources that I checked, I couldn't find out if it was common in those days for the Jews to refer to themselves as the circumcision. But historical research certainly does show that the Jews used the phrase the uncircumcised for all other people, and they meant it in quite a derogatory way. It was a contemptuous nickname that the Jews used for the Gentiles. It was a way to despise them and detest them, calling them Gentile dogs. In fact, one source I read gave this And this is from historical information outside the Bible, but cultural. Just to show you the prejudice of the Jews. Until Christ came, the Gentiles were an object of contempt to the Jews. The Jews said that the Gentiles were created by God to be fuel for the fires of hell. The Jews said that of all the nations God had made, He loved only Israel. And it was not even lawful for a Jewish woman to render aid to a Gentile mother in her hour of birth because that would simply be helping to bring another Gentile into the world. Dripping with prejudice and hatred and even haughtiness for the Jewish people. God only loves us. The rest of y'all are dogs. Oh, now. and the city of Ephesus that was pretty far removed geographically from Palestine, and probably the Jewish population in Ephesus was a distinct minority. I don't know if many of the Ephesian people ever would have heard themselves called by that epithet, you uncircumcised, maybe, but here Paul tells them and us about that reality. to underscore the division, the separation that the Gentiles generally had from the chosen people of God, the Jews. And then Paul elaborates that in more detail in verse 12, this separation with these four positional descriptions. And as we examine verse 12 a little more deeply, I want you to remember this contrast and comparison, the before and after, the then and now. So you see at the beginning of verse 12, the words, at that time, and then to start verse 13, he says, but now, but now. At that time, back then, pre-salvation, those Ephesians were, according to verse 12a, without Christ. Some of your translations say separated from Christ. And of course they were separated from Christ in the sense of not yet having been born again, but more broadly speaking, as a group, most of those Gentiles in Ephesus were unaware that there even was such a thing as a promised Messiah. Remember that the promise was to the Jews nationally. And then the next words in verse 12, that they were aliens to the Commonwealth of Israel. It's another way of saying you were non-Jews. And as such, you are strangers to the promises. strangers from the covenants of promise. God Himself had made those covenant promises with the Jews that would include all sorts of national benefits to them and protections and provisions and blessings if and when they would submit worshipfully and righteously to Him. And it gave them a hope for the future, a hope for now and a hope for eternity. Oh, an eternal hope. And so in the national sense, these covenant promises, these covenantal relational aspects did not apply to any of the other peoples other than the Jews. And besides, those pagans in Ephesus and other places, they didn't even know about those covenant promises to the Jews. They were aliens, strangers to the things of God. They may have had their pagan gods who were no God at all, but the Yahweh stuff, most of the pagans didn't even know about that. So think about it. If you didn't know that there was a sovereign God who really is in control of everything that goes on in the universe, if you didn't know that there was a promised deliverer who would be sent by God to rescue your soul for all eternity, If you didn't know there was a sure promise of an eternity in heaven for all who trust in the sovereign God, your daily life on earth could be frustrating. It could be scary. It could be confusing. It could be meaningless. It might even be hopeless. And that's the next thing Paul reminds us of in verse 12, having no hope. That was a doctrinal and positional reality for everyone who's apart from Christ. They were hopeless. Probably some of them live with a feeling of hopelessness at times, maybe even every day. And I want to just remind you and me that there are millions and millions and millions of people on the planet in our day who live every day with a feeling of hopelessness. But that day, and the next day, and the next day, they have a genuine sense of hopelessness. You got on your front porch, you look this way and that way and say, I don't think Larry and Mary are hopeless. Look, they got a lot of stuff and they seem to be happy. And if they don't have Christ, they're hopeless. And they may be putting on a front, but they're hopeless. And they probably know it. Hopelessness is an extraordinarily powerful emotion. And hopelessness can often lead to helplessness, and that can lead to a lot of other troublesome decisions. And this being without hope is one of the things that Paul exhorts him to remember. Remember. Now, I don't know about all the other pagan religions of that time, how they thought and what they thought about the future, But you know, human nature is pretty much a constant at any time in any culture. Probably even in their paganism or their lack of religion, those people back then at times felt hopeless. Have you ever felt hopeless? Have you ever felt a sense of desperation? I want you to think about this for a minute. I know it's not fun. Have you ever sensed hopelessness? Now, I understand that my process of coming to God to be saved is different from most everybody else's, but I want to share part of it with you because you may know some folk who are in the same situation I used to be in, And I don't want you to be fooled by the false front that they present to you. So just follow me on this just for a minute, okay? This is extra biblical, but in the decade or so before God saved me, which encompassed pretty much my 20s, I knew there was a God. I was brought up in a Christian home. In fact, I thought I was a Christian, but I lived as though God had nothing to do with me. And quite frankly, I had nothing to do with God. I was going here and doing that and experiencing this and experimenting with that. And I had some friends and did some interesting things. And I owned an assortment of vehicles and my own house. And I'm telling you, by outward standards, I seem to have it made. But the more I strove for satisfaction, the emptier I became. the more hopeless I began to feel. It was the irony. The closer I got to the bottom of my emptiness, when people would just innocently ask me, hey Dennis, how's it going? I would overreact. Great, great, everything's great. I got it made. I was lying through my teeth. Inside I knew, I'm desperate. And in fact, I believe it was the day God saved me. I know that I remember the day that I sat on the end of my bed and called out to him. And I said words, I can remember some of the words, but in effect I was saying to God, this is going nowhere. I got no hope. Would you have me? This sounds so foolish now, but I didn't know how to talk any better. I said, I've tried everything else and it doesn't work. I'll try it your way. And in my mind, Beth, I thought, if God's way doesn't work, I'm sunk. And that was followed by some words in effect of saying, God, rescue me from my hopelessness. And I praise God he did that by giving me the new birth. And part of why I tell you that story is The loving, redeeming God sent to me that horribly sweet desperation that drove me to Christ. But I was putting on a front before other people to make it look like I don't need anybody or anything, and there might be people you know right now. who act like and talk like and look like they got it made and they are desperate and they are hopeless. Don't neglect to share the gospel with them. That's my point. I needed the gospel so stinking bad. And I thank God. He sent some people in my life to share it with me. God gave the gift that could supply like nothing else can. and give a hope that nothing else can give. And so I want to encourage you, if you're here today and you're feeling empty, feeling hopeless, helpless, discouraged, in despair, and you think, maybe I'm not a Christian, call out to Christ. Only you know what's going on inside, okay? I mean, sometimes we see it on your countenance, You might be faking everybody up, but you're not faking Christ out. And if you know, I'm just not even asking you to raise your hand, but if you know in your heart, I have not trusted Christ as my savior, you got no hope. So I wanna encourage you, call on God like I did, even in your language that later you'll say, that's not the best way to say it. Would you ask God to save your soul? Would you ask him to give you life in Christ? If you don't, there's a hell waiting. And if you've got a Savior, the eternal life of Christ. Well, this last phrase in verse 12 tells us that they were without God in the world. Well, God hadn't gone anywhere, but relationally, they didn't know Him. And even if they had heard of him, they weren't trusting in him and a relationship of faith. And so they didn't have any of the benefits of a faith relationship. What a sad, I just want you to try to remember, if you can remember being unsaved, because I was an adult, I can still remember that stuff. Try to remember living day after day after day, godless, Christless, alienated, and hopeless. And those Ephesian people and we would have stayed that way unless God came to rescue us. And so we see at the beginning of verse 13, but now Aren't those beautiful words? But now, I think those are the second most beautiful corrective words of contrast in the whole Bible, exceeded only by the words that open verse four, but God. You Ephesians, verse 12, you were at that time, verse 13, but now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off, been made near by the blood of Christ. Now, in case there's someone here who might be accidentally misled or under-informed by the words brought near, and by the way, near is the correct translation from the Greek there. It's used as an opposite contrast to when we were far off, okay? We're far off, now you're near. Sometimes in English we use the word near like, have you ever heard people say close but not quite? Like the Senate was close to passing the bill but at the last minute they denied it. Or the couple was almost married before at the last minute she called it off. So in those scenarios, near is close, but it's not a consummation. That is not what is implied here in verse 13, praise God. Brought near is a phrase in contrast to the far off position, but in reality, being brought near is to be made in Christ. Just to be saved, just to be born again. Think of the words of verse 5. He made us alive together with Christ. That's what it means to be brought near. Verse 7. and His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Verse 10, we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. In Christ is what it means to be near. Colossians 127b, Christ in you, the hope of glory. And here again in the first part of verse 13 of Ephesians 2, but now in Christ Jesus. That's what it means to be brought near, not just close, but to be brought into God's family, into a saving relationship. Matthew Henry says of this nearness, the old King James says, you've been made nigh. Henry says, upon your conversion, your union with Christ, you are made nigh. You were brought home to God. Don't you love that phrase? You were received into the church, taken into the covenant, and possessing of all other privileges consequence upon these. So appreciate that statement of the maiden near wording. You were brought home to God. And what a home it is, amen? Being home with God is a home of life. a home of satisfaction, a home of true worship, a home of hope and love and joy. Thank you, God, for bringing us home. And it will be a blessing someday to be home in heaven with God, but it is a daily blessing to be now at home in God, amen? Come on, church, help me a little bit. Isn't it great to be saved? Yes, preacher, it is. Oh, how sweet of God to save sinners. And even this moment, even this moment, I want you to appreciate anew the blessing of God to have saved your soul. Everything matters when God saves our soul. And here at the end of verse 13, Paul tells us, the means by which we have this nearness of being in Christ, you have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Meaning, as you surely know, the blood of Christ that was shed on Calvary's cross, the blood that was acceptable to the Father as payment for the sins of all who would believe in Him, so that we don't have to pay that price forever in hell, but Christ paid the price for us. Hebrews 9.22 tells us, apart from the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sins. The good news is, from Romans 3.25, we learn that God set forth His Son to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith. And you say, okay, how effective now was that propitiatory bloodshedding? 1 John 1.7 tells us the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all Not most of them, all of them. Cleanses us, the us of those who believe in Christ as Savior. Cleanses us from all unrighteousness. From one of our hymns earlier this morning, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And every day, every day, Christians, we should thank the Lord Jesus for going to the cross, for shedding His blood, for what that accomplished, and for applying that to our account and thus redeeming us to Himself. The blood shed by Christ, what a fantastically loving thing for Christ to do. Right now, to the end of this message, which won't be that long, I'm gonna do something to finish the message which may take some of you who are exegetical purists into a place of squeamishness, okay? But it's okay to do what I'm about to do if it is clearly explained as to what it is that's being done. But what I'm going to do here is expand the concept of nearness beyond what Paul more narrowly meant here in Ephesians 2.13. I'm identifying to you right now. I'm taking it beyond his original meaning. I'm not reading into the verse. I'm adding to the verse. Okay? I already said this in today's verse. 2.13, the idea of being brought near to God is in the redemptive sense. The people who were unsaved were saved, were given life. I know that. I'm not trying to go beyond the meaning in that verse. But from other verses, there are other aspects of nearness to God, some of which we sang about earlier, that are, we might say, part of the package of God having brought us near in redemption. These are functional or familial or fellowship kinds of nearness with God. Let me read a verse to you. This is Psalm 73, verse 28. I'm gonna read it in several different translations. The psalmist said, it is good for me to draw near to God. for I have put my trust in the Lord God." Another translation says, it is good for me to be near to God. I have made the Lord God my refuge. The New American Standard says it this way, but as for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge. Question, do we find that kind of nearness fellowship with God? to be for our good? You know what I'm talking about, don't you, church? Being fellowshipy near God, intimate with Him in conversation and prayer and thinking about Him and hearing Him speak to you, do you find that to be for your good, for your helpfulness? God invites us. That kind of nearness, doesn't he? Hebrews 4.16, therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. You got a time of need? Draw near to the throne of God. He invites us to that. How often How often are we taking advantage of that invitation, that gracious welcome of God, draw near to me, fellowship with me, come near me. What a privilege God has given to those souls He has saved. Have we found that we're perplexed or anxious or Somehow or other, we're beset that when we draw near to God, that soon enough, He helps us in any number of ways. He comforts us, He realigns our thinking, He straightens us out. And suddenly those things that we were so tense about seem to kind of melt away. They're still there, they're still real, but maybe they're not quite as overwhelming as they used to be. Richard Sibbes, one of the old Puritan pastors, wrote on that Psalm 73, 28 phrase about drawing near to God. He says, when our whole affections are carried to God, that breeds desire of communion with God, and thence comes joy in God, so that our soul then pants after God. And all of that panting after God and joy in God and communing with God comes from drawing near to God. Ah, this is just so precious to me that God would let me come close to Him and hear from Him and talk with Him and pour out my soul to Him and Him pour out His truth to me. Are we taking full advantage of that church? Here's some more of Bible's invitation or instruction to this functional nearness with God. Hebrews 10, 19, and 22. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of the faith. And here again, the mention of the blood of Jesus. And again, in Ephesians 2.13, it's that blood that gives us access to God savingly. And here at Hebrews 10, the author is saying that Christ's blood gives us access to intimate communion and fellowship with God, to draw near to Him in that way. And you say, okay, God, but does He do that grudgingly? Does He just say, okay, I'll let you come near? No. No, it's way more than that. James 4, 8b. Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you. He wants to. Isn't it great? Oh, what a blessing. What a privilege, what an honor to be allowed to draw near to God Himself. It's an old, simple hymn. Near to the heart of God. Some of you older folks know it. The first two stanzas are these. There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest near to the heart of God. I want to be in a place where sin cannot molest. Second stanza, there is a place of comfort sweet. near to the heart of God, and there's a place where we, our Savior, meet near to the heart of God. Brothers and sisters, I want to encourage you in our very busy and hectic lives, don't let everything else crowd out this needful, helpful time to spend in quiet rest. where we meet Christ near to the heart of God. Spend that time there. And having been brought near to God in that salvation, redemption aspect by the blood of Christ, that means that we have this additional familial, functional, fellowshipy kind of nearness What a gift of God. Oh, use it daily. And if you were to say, look, I truly believe I'm saved by God's grace and mercy, but my affections toward him have grown a little cold. I don't know what all I did to let that happen, and I just don't feel like drawing near to him. Listen to these last words I'll quote from Richard Sibbes. When things are cold, we bring them to the fire so that the heat will melt them. And so we should bring our cold hearts to the fire of the love of Christ. Think what great love Christ has toward us, and this will make your heart to melt. There's your answer to feeling Cold toward God? Don't stay out in the cold. Bring your cold heart to God. Draw near and let him melt the coldness. I hope all of you will take joy in the truths that this morning's verses have presented to us. I hope you'll take joy in these things and give God much. Give Him much praise and thanks for these things. Praise God that you are no longer without Christ. Praise God that you're no longer an alien and a stranger to being in covenant relationship with God. Praise God that you live daily with great hope in the great God, amen? And praise God that at all times you are so near Him, He is with you in the world, you are with Him, that God Himself, the person of the Holy Spirit, dwells in you. You can't get any nearer than that. Praise Him for that. Praise God that you're no longer far off, but by the blood of Christ you've been brought near brought into the eternal family of God. Whatever else is going on in our lives, we Christ followers must always remember these things and give God praise that they are a God-sealed reality. What's brought near, He will never let us go. What a great, glorious bringing near God He is. Amen? Lord, I pray, I pray that you have used today's text and the elaboration on it to encourage somebody, somebody's here, plural. I hope those of us who were not feeling alienated would just appreciate, even if we have to say, hey brother, I already knew all those things before I walked in the door. Yes, God help us to appreciate them evermore. Help us to be thankful that we've been brought near. Help us to be grateful that we can draw nigh unto you and you will draw nigh unto us in this fellowship kind of way. And again, I pray, Lord, if there's somebody here who all of this nearness talk from me and the scriptures and the songs earlier, they're thinking, I don't get it. I don't get it. God, help them to get it. Granted to them by your great grace and love and mercy. Please call them to yourself and quicken them. and cause them to be able to say, I now am one who has been brought near by the blood of Christ. Do your work, holy Lord, in all of our hearts for the glory of Christ, in his name we pray, amen. Church, let's sing a song.