Well now, the book of Joel is a prophecy that begins with a description of the great judgment of God. It uses the language of a locust plague, or plague of different sorts of locusts actually, that keep sweeping through and just when you think the judgment is over, something worse happens. But it's not merely an old deer, isn't it bad for us? It is in fact the judgment of God on ungodly Israel and that's the way it will be. God cannot ever deny himself so his holiness means that he will judge anything which is ungodly in his world and that's a highly significant matter but the goal is not just that God is going to vent his spleen. You know some of us just get angry for the sake of it but God doesn't do that. God has a great purpose and that purpose It will take us through judgment. Never ever think you can have the blessing of God without judgment. It just doesn't work. Because God will never bless impurity. When a friend of mine once went to a healing service, he was the speaker, and he knew that there were lots of people there praying for healing, and that's a good thing to do. I'm not critical of that, and neither was he, but he said to them, God will never heal over a septic tank. You know what he meant? You can't just play around and expect a blessing. And God looks at his world and says, no, I have a purpose for my creation and therefore I have to purify this creation. And so that's why the scriptures describe the judgment. It is a very significant part of who we are as human beings, that God will never ever allow our sin to go undealt with. So if you are sitting here this morning and you're fiddling around with sin, or if I am, then you know that you will never ever enjoy the blessing of God. It just won't happen. Now, after the judgment, In chapter 2, I'm going to read verses 28 to the end of the chapter, of Joel chapter 2. Then afterward, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Actually, my Bible has a typo at this point. It says, your old men shall dream reams. I don't know why they left the D out. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves in those days, I will pour out my spirit." Are you familiar with that passage? Where does it come again? In a most significant passage in the New Testament. It's quoted. We'll get there in a minute. So then he goes on and God says, I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said. And among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls." Well now, verses 28 and 29, the description of God saying, I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh, not meaning simply on Israel, that's true, but on all humanity. And when he pours out his spirit, will something wonderful happen? You're not sure this morning, are you? A little bit lost? When you came to Christ, did you receive the Holy Spirit? And you may not be able to remember when that was, just because of the way you've grown up or your Christian experience. Some of us might. I know many people who can tell you exactly when they came to Christ. They can tell you all that happened. It was a wonderful time. When I was a student, I went to Moore College. the Anglican Theological College, and I think half or more of the students in my year, that was in 1969, could tell you when they came to Christ. They came to Christ in the Billy Graham crusade of 1959. Yes, there you are. It's a wonderful moment. And I'll tell you that when you came to Christ, you received the Holy Spirit. You may not have been aware of it then, and to some people they discover wonderful things many years later, but nonetheless, That is a promise that Joel is giving, and we don't even know when Joel wrote actually, but he's certainly looking forward to the great things God will do. There had been isolated individuals who had received the Spirit in a special way in Israel's life, but this would be a time when all the people of God would suddenly discover the riches of God's gift to them. And when I asked you if you knew where this was quoted, well it's actually quoted in Acts chapter 2. when on the day of Pentecost they knew something wonderful had happened to them. As I said, you may not be aware of when you came to Christ, some of us obviously are, but let me tell you, are you aware that something wonderful has happened to you? That's a bigger, better matter than knowing when, I don't remember when I was born, but I do know that I was born and it really is pretty good. So he's saying that on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit is poured out on 3,000 people, and the Spirit has gone on being poured out on men and women, and that flow of the Spirit of God has caught us up into Christ, and that is the most exciting thing, to see what God has done in us, washing us clean from our sin, adopting us into the family of God, joining us to Christ. It is just more than tongue can tell, but not more than heart can contain. But then we come to this strange phrase in verse 30, I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And that's also quoted in the book of Acts. So on the day of Pentecost, Peter stands up And the whole body of people who were there, perhaps about 120 of them, were overwhelmed with the wonder of what God had done. They could not contain it. We struggled a little bit, and it was good fun this morning with the singing. You're allowed to laugh, you know, when you make mistakes. You know that, don't you? But they were just overwhelmed by the joy that had come to them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them the capacity. But they weren't just babbling away mindlessly because what people heard was a whole body of people who were telling out the mighty works of God. Now, when was the last time, and you'll have to answer this, but when was the last time somebody accused you of being so drunk that you're praising God? Well, we try to be very proper, don't we? Now, Peter says, drunk? You're kidding. It's only nine o'clock in the morning. Give us a break. Pubs aren't open yet. This is what the Prophet Joel said. And he quotes this, but he also quotes this last bit about portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. And he talks about the sun being turned to darkness and the moon to blood A little while ago we had that total eclipse of the moon. That was quite a spectacular thing. They even quoted this passage on the radio. I thought, oh, come on. Grabbing anything, if they quoted Nostradamus or something, that would have been the same significance. But it made me realise that when we come to look at matters like this, We drift into Christian clichés, because we are a little bit uncertain of what the scriptures actually say. You know what a cliché is, it's just a phrase you drag out. So I want to put it to you this way. When he says, portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and so on, put your hand up, this is like a school class, put your hand up if you are going to go to heaven when you die. Now the uncertainty seems to be creeping in. I'm going to go to heaven when I die. Would you agree with that? I don't. Not that I don't, you know, I know you do, but I'm just saying, I don't think I'd put my hand up. And I want to tell you why. And actually I want to encourage you by saying this incidentally. So don't think I'm going to rob you of the joy of your salvation. I want to tell you what the joy of your salvation really is. But we use these clichés and sometimes we use them without knowing what we're saying, just because that's what we've always said. Within the scriptures, now I'm not a great genius, I know I pretend that I am, but I'm not really, but within the scriptures All I had to do was get out a concordance, a book that analyses where every word takes place, and I looked up the word heaven. Now I did it on a computer, you can do those as well, but I've got books that'll do it. And I tried to find out how the word heaven is used, and it's used in two ways. Now here, for example, in Joel, have a look, I'll show portents in the heavens and on the earth. What do you think the word heavens means there? The firmament? And that's another way of saying Sky. And firmament is a very funny old word. I'm reasonably sure on this one that it's called firmament because it was regarded as a firm dome. It's sort of like the stars are stuck onto it. They're real stars, but it was like a big dome, you see. You know the little poem that says the sky has holes where the rain comes in, the holes are small till the rain is thin? But the picture is of the heavens being the sky. So you go outside and you lift your eyes to the heavens, it just means you're looking up into the sky. But there is another use, and it's when we say, Our Father who art in heaven, are we saying that God lives in the sky? Oh, OK, so that must mean that when we talk about our Father in heaven we're talking about a different use of the word heaven. Are you happy with that? It's just the way we use language. It's the same in most languages in this one as well. So, the first use of heaven means the sky. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The sky and the ground. And also though, the word heavens refers to the unseen domain of God and the celestial beings. Now, there are beings that we call angels, don't know what they look like, angels do not have wings, because it's possible to entertain angels and not know it, isn't it? Now there are only a couple of beings called the Seraph is one and the Cherub is another, or Seraphim is the plural and Cherubim, They are described as winged beings. But angels are simply the messengers of God who do His purpose, but you often can't see them. But they're serving you, and so God and the angelic beings and the celestial beings are present in the heavenly places, but you and I can't see them. It's unseen. But you've got these two uses of the word heaven. The sky, I'm going to go to heaven when I die. Now can you see, if you just talk about the sky, what does that mean? Well that would be a bit strange, wouldn't it? OK, so we're going to go to the unseen realm where God is, well that may be true, but let's keep going. So we get these uses of the scriptures. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That means that there is the sky, And there's the earth, and indeed the scriptures have a much more complex picture, they talk about the waters under the earth, they have just a way of expressing it that we wouldn't use, but nonetheless, there's the sky. But the second one, take for example, we have sent people out as missionaries with great confidence because Jesus said, all authority, that's the rest of it, Matthew 28, 18, all authority in heaven, and on earth has been given to me. Go and make disciples of all nations. So all authority in heaven and on earth. Obviously it doesn't just mean I have authority in the sky and on the ground. What would authority in the heavens mean? In other words, over all of humanity, over all of the earth, And we could go on a long time with this one, because it's more exciting to see that. But Christ's authority over all of the creation, but not only that, but over all in the unseen world, He also reigns. Would that start to thrill you a little bit? Particularly when you think things are out of control? And so we do rightly wonder about the Burmahs and the Darfurs and all of these things. Who is Lord of all? Well Jesus is Lord of all. Now we sound like we're whistling in the dark here. Remember in that film The King and I? What did she say? I whistle a happy tune so no one else will know I'm afraid? We meet in our little church buildings and we and sing the Christian songs, but I'm not saying that at all, we're not pretending, we know that things are tough and we know the rest of the world couldn't care less, but nonetheless the scriptures say Jesus is Lord, but Lord not only of the earthly realm, even though others say it doesn't look like it, but he's Lord over all the spiritual realm, the celestial realm, where there are the angels, not only the angels, but who else is in that spiritual realm that we can't see? The demons, the Satan, the principalities and the powers, those evil forces, they're also there. But all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. So, it means that when we talk about heaven, we're not talking about a place, but that unseen realm which is hidden from our view. Occasionally, you get a glimpse. Occasionally. Sometimes a joy unbidden comes. It doesn't always last, because we walk by faith, not by sight. In other words, we believe what God says, but rarely ever do you break through and see something. But there is a couple of good examples of this. One of my favourite little items, if you like, in the second book of Kings, chapter 6. I remember hearing about these stories as a boy when I went to Sunday school. I thought it was very cute actually. The phrase was that the over-fifties, they. Wasn't we? They. Is that right? In the announcements? They. You know what that means? I'm one of them. And I can remember in Sunday school. Anyway, you're puzzled. I know, that was reasonably obvious to the rest of us. Congratulations for maintaining your youth. One of the things I can remember when I was in Sunday school was the story of the Prophet Elisha. This is in 2 Kings chapter 6, verse 15 onwards. The Prophet Elisha was a pain in the neck to the Syrians because Every time they would come to attack Israel, God would tell Elisha exactly where they were. And so they were never successful. One day the Syrians found out where Elisha was. It was the king of Aram, actually. But he says, verse 15 tells us that when they came to the village where Elisha was, the prophet Elisha had a young man who was his assistant, his servant. My translation calls him an attendant. Verse 15, When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And so there they were. They've got him at last. And he's absolutely petrified. He said, Alas, Master, what shall we do? To which Elisha said, Don't be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them. What would your response to that be? You say, oh yeah, sure, you and me and the dog, and what about them out there? And to which Elisha then prayed in verse 17, Oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha. That is something where you just had a glimpse for a moment of what was happening. When you think the whole world is collapsing around you, there is the great reality. No, Jesus Christ is Lord and greater is He with us than He that is in the world. and greater are those who are with us than those who are out there. But the young man was given a glimpse of the unseen. He saw into the heavenly realm, just for a moment. And would that transform him? I guess so. He'd be full of confidence. He still has to live by faith. You can't live on past experiences. You may have had a wonderful experience when you were 21 or whatever and say, oh yes, I can remember when I was converted and it was just so exciting. But you know, if you're not living by faith now, what happened in the past just becomes a lovely memory. So that young man as we must live by faith. But he soar into the heavenly realms. Now another good example of this is the story of Jesus' ascension. We fully understand, well we don't understand, but we understand that Christ was crucified and on the third day he rose from the dead. There are four items that belong together. You can't really separate them. First, the crucifixion. The second is the resurrection. Because if he's crucified for our sins, that's great. But if he doesn't rise from the dead, that's terrible. But if he only rises from the dead, then that's also terrible. Because he must ascend to the right hand of the Father. Humanity must be exalted. Otherwise, you and I are just left in our sin and in our failure. So Christ is exalted to the right hand of God, just as Adam was created to be. He lost it, but Christ has fulfilled all of that. What would be the fourth item that makes it all click together? The coming of the Holy Spirit. In other words, when the Spirit is poured out on the day of Pentecost, or when you came to Christ, then all that Christ had accomplished in his cross, his resurrection and his ascension comes to you. That's how you come to be a believer. That's how your sin is taken away. The Spirit brings the work of the cross to you. But let's think just for a moment, this is going to sound a little bit almost irreverent, I don't mean to be, but we talk about Jesus' ascension. I looked up a little while ago on one of the websites some paintings or artwork of the Ascension. There's lots of it around. Some of it was very beautiful art. Some of it was very strange. But many of them had pictures of Jesus ascending vertically Often doing it like this, as if he's laying a blessing on them as he goes up. It looked more like some sort of celestial rocket to me. And there was even one picture which I thought was absolutely gorgeous. I had a picture of all the disciples standing around, looking rather bored I may add. His two little legs dangling from the top of the painting as if Jesus was in there. That was the last you'd see of him. But we're told in the book of Acts, pardon me, that as he ascended, they watched him until a cloud took him out of their sight. Now here's another little bit where we've got cliches. When you were watching the ascension, how high did he have to get before a cloud took him out of their sight? What sort of cloud was it? Now, this is where I sound like I'm being irreverent. Have you ever watched the space shuttles take off on television? I'd like to see one in real life, actually. But when you see this great rocket goes up, I never follow it because they fiddle with the picture, but I want to see how high it gets before finally I can't see it. Or a cloud takes it out of my sight. Is that what they're describing? The answer is, I don't think so at all. They're not describing Jesus' ascension as merely being in a direction towards the heavens. But they're saying that a cloud takes Him. What sort of cloud do you think would take Him out of their sight? Now this is where we have to be Bible-reading and Bible-believing Christians, if you want, if I can use a pious phrase. When you read the Scriptures, what is the most significant thing about cloud? Darkness? Yeah, I guess. Is that part of it? I don't think it's the main part. Glory. For example, when Moses was on the mountain, they saw the glory of God. He's in the cloud. It's the cloud of glory. When they consecrated the tabernacle, when God consecrated the tabernacle, the priests couldn't enter because the cloud of glory was so Incredible. And when they consecrated the temple, the same thing happened. The priests couldn't enter and do their duty because the cloud of God's glory was there. And when they asked Jesus if he was the Messiah, he said, I am, and you'll see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of glory. So here is a description. Now he's using imagery, but that's alright. We're familiar with imagery. But he's saying, I think the scriptures are saying that what takes Jesus from their sight is not distance, and not if I can be Winnie the Pooh-ish, a little black rain cloud, but the clouds of glory as he enters into that celestial realm where we cannot ordinarily see. Is that alright? I haven't dashed your hopes yet, have I? So there is a rule, and now if you don't I see that is significant. Let me show you one or two things. Would you turn to the book of Ephesians in the New Testament? If you can find 1 and 2 Corinthians, then you'll find Galatians and then you'll find Ephesians. Verse 3 of chapter 1. Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. That's a very interesting statement, isn't it? Now, if we think of heaven as being a place somewhere a long way away, then you won't get very excited about being blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, will you? It's alright to have them there, but I'd like them here. Someone said that heaven is pie in the sky when you die by and by, but we want steak on the plate while we wait. But if you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and you knew that the heavenly places weren't just off there, you'd say, You mean all the blessing of God is here for us right here and now? Would that do something? You'd start to live in the blessing, wouldn't you? We'll keep going. These are just the way Paul uses his language, but we can build it up. In chapter 2 and verse 6, Can I begin with verse 4 at the beginning of my sentence? But God who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. When Christ was crucified, you were crucified with him. And when he was raised, you were raised in his resurrection. You're not raised, you haven't been resurrected yet. But His resurrection is your resurrection, His risen life is your life, that's what keeps you going. And He raised us up, for by grace you have been saved, and He raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him, where are you? In the heavenly places, in the heavenly realms. So, look, it may come as a bit of a surprise, we live in a very beautiful part of the world, but let me tell you, You ain't seen nothing yet. Just see with the eyes of faith where you are now. You are seated with Christ in the heavenly realm. It doesn't mean anything that you can make stupid by describing thrones or anything. We're not saying that. We're saying, if He is seated at the place of supreme authority, you're with Him now. The Spirit of God has joined you to Christ, and that's where you are now. Now one day, if you breathe the air of faith, you say, this is incredible. Now, naturally, you look around you, and if you live in some parts of our world which aren't as beautiful as ours, then you'll say, oh, no, awful. I don't like what I see around me. But we're not pretending, we're saying this is the incredible reality. Blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and we're seated with Christ in the heavenly places. You will never be more in the heavenly places than you are now. How about that? Well, you're already there. Would that be fair enough from that passage? If you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places, then you must be seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Chapter 3, verse 10. Paul is describing his ministry as an apostle, and he's saying that he has been given to show the plan of God, and in verse 10, so that through the Church, the wisdom of God, in its rich variety, might now be made known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. Have a little look around this room, just for a quick glance. Now what do you see? Most of us, don't tell anyone, but most of us are over 50. And you know what God is saying? He's saying to those principalities and powers who deny the authority of Christ, deny the rule of God, what we would call them demonic powers, Satan and his hosts, God is saying, look at that church which I have redeemed. Let the world look at us and say what they will. God says, I have redeemed them, see my wisdom in that. You may not realise it, but the heavenly realms, although the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms are watching us, not because to see whether we succeed or not, You and I will never of ourselves succeed anyway. There's him looking to see the great triumph of Christ in you and in me. And he's saying, that's what I've done. And what's more, if I've taken away their guilt, nothing can ever return it. They are secure because they're seated with my Son in the heavenly places. I must stop all of this preaching. Chapter 6 and verse 12, I'm pretty sure. So if what we've said is true, look at verse 10. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. He's a cunning beast. He's a cunning creature. So you can stand against him. You put on the whole armour of God, because our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil. Where are they? And where is that? Sitting next to you. You see, where we see this earthly realm, But the spirituals, the heavenly places, are here because the unseen realm, it's the domain of God and the celestial beings, where Jesus is Lord now, where God reigns now, in spite of appearances through our human eyes. Now, if that's the case, then you're not going to go to heaven when you die for one very good reason. You're already there. What do we lack? If that's the case, it means we lack sight. We cannot see these things clearly, but they are there and they're real nonetheless. You with me? Is that OK? Alright. So, you and I have a sure future. Let me try from another angle, just for a second. We're doing OK. It's this. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. We know that, Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1. But, when Adam sinned, did a curse come upon the creation? Many of the creation cannot be all that God intended it to be. God won't let it, while ever there is human sin. That's why I said before, there has to be that judgment. But God's plan is not frustrated. So, what is the promises What are the promises that he keeps making? For example, if you like, you can look at, because I'm only taking it from the Scriptures, Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 17. The paragraph is a lot longer and richer, but we don't have time. But God says, I'm about to create new heavens and a new earth. The former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. New heavens and a new earth, that's the language of creation. New sky, And New Earth, not meaning a replacement, but everything brought back to pristine purity. With all that's unclean removed. When it's all messy and dirty, you think, oh, you know, the thing today is to, what's it, pull down and rebuild? God doesn't pull down a rebuild. He takes this old creation, which we see as so spoiled, and He purges it of all its muck, and He purges you of all your sin. That's the judgment, and the end result is a new heavens and a new earth. When Peter was writing his second letter, he said, according to God's promises, we wait for a new heavens and a new earth. Do you know the next little phrase? in which righteousness dwells. When all that is denying the purity of God and the purity of His creation, this whole of creation will be sparkling, it will be radiant, because the righteousness of God will be fully present, uncontested, and you and I, because we are in Christ, will luxuriate in it. So then you get to Revelation 21 and John says, I saw, in my vision, what was it? A new heavens and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more, and then I could see what really was there. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, come down out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband. At last, the marriage. But you see, where was the bride? In all that time she was coming down out of heaven. She was already there. in the heavenly realms. Secure. You're secure because you're in Christ. The goal of it all is not that you and I will be disembodied. You know the corny things we have, people sitting up on clouds with little harps. No wonder they think Christians are a bunch of loonies. We're not going to be sitting on clouds with harps. The harp would be a part of worship, but what was God's purpose for creation at the beginning? Where did He put man that He made in His own image? Radiant, glorious Adam and Eve, where were they? God made them on the earth. The only thing that messed up our blessing there was the sin of people. Supposing everything that is unclean is taken away, what will be the delight for Christ and His bride? but to live on the earth that God intended. One commentator said, God planned no empty and meaningless universe but a home for his family. Can you see that what God is about is not just to get us to some place where our spirits live on even though the body lies a-mouldin' in the grave. No, no. What are you looking forward to? The resurrection of your body. My father-in-law went to be with the Lord a couple of weeks ago, and we had his funeral, and there was much time and much sadness of course, but the great declaration, and you've heard it before and you may have even said it, that we commit this body to the ashes or to the earth in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead. I don't know what it'll be like. You read 1 Corinthians 15 and he says, who can describe that? But you know there's a physical body, there's a spiritual body, but it's a body. When Jesus was raised from the dead, what did he say? Touch me. See? Ghost doesn't have a body like I've got. I've got flesh and blood. Didn't give all the details, but our hope is the resurrection of the body. Do you ever feel a little bit on the, I could do with a bit of a resurrection feeling? Yes, of course you do. Even when you're young you feel that. Well that's exactly what's going to happen. And your hope rests not in your ability to work it all out, but in the very fact that God has promised it. So when Joel talks about the sun being turned to blood and the moon to darkness and all of that, what's he saying? In case you hadn't in mind that I'd started there, it was this. that when you received the Holy Spirit, that was the guarantee that God would in fact bring all of his creation, sun and moon and stars and earth, to their great climax. You receiving the Spirit, that was it. Because Paul says, and again it's in Ephesians chapter 1, this will close, but he says this, In Christ, verse 11, you also have obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we who were the first to set our hope on Christ might live for the praise of his glory. In Him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in Him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit. And this is the guarantee of our inheritance, towards redemption as God's own people. The praise of His glory. You came to Christ when you believed the gospel, whether it was Billy Graham, or someone else, or whether it was a Sunday school teacher, or your parents, or whatever. You came to Christ. And the Spirit of God was given to you. But that Holy Spirit being given to you, bringing all the work of Christ, was not just so that you could have a great spiritual feeling on a Sunday morning. But He's saying, I've given you the Spirit to ensure that you are mine and you will reach the goal. And I'm going to renew this creation. So tell me, are you looking forward, if I can use the imagery of the Scriptures, to the trumpet call and the archangels shout when Christ returns and brings all of history to its goal. Well I want to encourage you to look forward to that. It's a great thing and you can be confident because God has already given you all you need. He's given you the Spirit, He's brought all the salvation of Christ to you and to me. Now you may be feeling a little bit on the creaky side sometimes when you go from a 6 to a 7. Well if the Lord will you go from a 7 to an 8. But you know, you can still dance on the inside. But it's the dance of pure joy that God has a purpose for creation and you can trust Him. I've got to pray. Father thank you that we can encourage one another with these things. that we can break out of things which really mean nothing into the glorious wonder of hearing what your promises are and believing those. So bless this congregation, Father. May their mutual ministry and the love and joy of Christ within them cause them to give testimony to the great hope that's within them so that without any nonsense associated with it the world will see in them the great salvation which you are going to bring upon the whole earth in that day. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.