Good morning. Welcome to Cross Light Bible Church. I'm so glad you're here with me today. We have such a, it's gonna be a special day. Every Sunday is a special day, but again, I missed you last week, and do you remember two weeks ago, I said, I want you to do me a favor. I said a good friend of mine was coming to preach, and your job was to encourage Dave Bruner. Well, I talked to him this week, and guess what? He loved this church. You guys did a great job. He needed that. And anyway, I appreciate that so much. And I was listening to you. I was driving down the road last Sunday morning to pick up a pastor friend of mine in Madison, Virginia. And I picked him up. That was a three-hour drive. And I picked him up and had a five-hour drive to this conference I went to. But I was listening to the service and was just very thankful the whole time. And again, I'm glad I'm back. And I'll share some things that I learned and an experience that I had this week that was just amazing. I'll share that in a little bit. But we want to start this morning by giving him all the praise, the iron of glory. And we're going to begin. Carolyn, can you come on up here? And we're going to begin by singing a song called Living for Who? Now, sometimes you go to church and you think it's all about learning about Jesus. And it could be that way, right? But that's not what we want. It's not just about learning, right? Because as we learn, what do we do with what we're learning? We live it. So let's all stand up, right? Now, Carolyn, you want to say anything about this song? I was going to say, I really missed your interrogation. last Sunday, but your able-bodied assistant, Rick, asked me the same question. So I'm in practice. I'm in practice. I just decided, really, that as I was looking at songs based on what you sent me in your email, all the songs this week are just going to be about Jesus, each one. And one of the questions you posed was, Could we ever, just paraphrase, please God as much as Jesus did? I mean, what are the chances that we could so consistently and fully please our Heavenly Father? So I wanted songs that focused on that. So that's why I chose these songs. And we'll start off with Living for Jesus. For Jesus, a life that is true, striving to please Him in all that I do. Yielding allegiance that hardened and free, O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee For Thou in Thine atonement didst give Thyself to me My life I give henceforth to you, O Christ, for thee alone. For Jesus, who died in my place, Carrying on Calvary my sin and disgrace, Such love constrains me to answer His call. this teaching, and give him my all. O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee, for now in Thine atonement, please give Thyself for me. I own no other master, ♪ My heart shall be thy throne ♪ ♪ My life I give henceforth to him ♪ ♪ Of Christ for thee alone ♪ ♪ Living for Jesus ♪ ♪ Wherever I am ♪ ♪ Doing each day ♪ Oh Jesus Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee. Lord, now in Thine atonement, didst give Thyself for me. I owe no other, Master. My heart shall be Thy throne. My life I give henceforth to live. O Christ, for Thee, Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, I thank You so much, Lord, for this day that You have given us And some energy levels this morning are greater than others. But Lord, we're here today to honor and glorify You. We lift up Your name. Lord, You are the Holy One. And Lord, we are told that we are Your holy ones, as we are Your saints, Lord. And it's only by the blood of Jesus that we've been saved and sanctified. So here we are once again, and we do declare how hallowed your name really is. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so Lord, I think of my dear sister Loretta this morning. She wants to be out of that hospital and back with us so bad. And Lord, you know exactly what she's going through. So we pray for her and we pray for others. I thank you that Jack's here today. He's in his chair, but he's with us. And Lord, I thank you that he could have chose to stay home. And I thank you for Joyce and for Rick for helping him get here this morning. We love our brothers and sisters in Christ. And Lord, we know that you loved us so much that you gave your life for us. And so here we are. We pray for this place. We think of Cross Life Bible Church. We think of those like-minded churches in the area and around the world that are proclaiming the gospel today. I pray, Lord, as your word goes forth, as the gospel, the good news of Jesus goes out, I pray for each and every individual, Lord. You know each and every one of us. You said just as you care about the sparrows and the flowers in the field, Lord, you care about us. And you're not willing that any should perish, but all come to repentance. So Lord, I pray now that as we sing, as we pray, As we look into your word, Lord, we trust that your Holy Spirit is going to take your holy word and penetrate through all the hardness and all those things that distract and distort and bring the truth home. I pray, Lord, that the seed would fall in good soil and that it would produce good fruit, much fruit, and we're going to give you the praise, the honor, and the glory for it all. In Jesus' precious name I pray, amen. You can be seated. And our call to worship this morning, and our message this morning is going to be taken from Ephesians 5. And in the text that we're going to focus on later this morning, the emphasis is how we are to walk in love and walk in the light. And as God's dear children, He made a difference. He showed us the difference of how we're to walk in love and walk in His light. But think about what 2 Corinthians 5, verses 14 through 16, it says this, for the love of Christ does what? It compels us. Is that true in your life today? What compelled you to get out of bed this morning and come to church? For the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus, that if one died for all, Then all died. Now it says, if one died for all, and did that happen? And it did. Then all died, and he died for all, that those who live, and what does he give us when we put our faith and trust in him? We have eternal life. Those who live, live no longer for who? For themselves. But for who? for him who died for them and rose again." And I purposely stopped this verse where it says, therefore, from now on, how does that end? You're going to have to look that up and see what it says. But you fill in the blank in your life. From now on, since I have eternal life, what about you? What about me? From now on, this is what's going to happen. I love that. So we're going to continue singing. What's this song, Carolyn? Closer and closer to the Lord. Yes, close to be. And there are, there are refrain for all three verses, but they're different. So I'm sure that that's all clear in the, I noticed it myself, you know, normally the refrain is just the same, you know, to sing the same thing, but each of the refrains says something slightly different. So. No, theologically. This is so important because you could sing this and have the wrong thought in your mind. Close to thee. If you're a believer, is God ever away from you? No, I'm the one who could step away. Ah, yes. Revelation. They didn't lose their first love. They left their first love. Come near to God. He'll draw near to you. So as I draw near to God, you're going to be near. He's there the whole time, right? Isn't that awesome? So you're not alone. You're never alone. Thank you, Pastor. Yes. Now my everlasting portion, more than friend or life to me, all along my pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee. Close to Thee, close to Thee, All along my pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with Thee. Not for ease, for worldly pleasure, Not for fame, my proof shall be, Gladly will I toil and suffer, Only let me walk with Thee. Close to Thee, Close to Thee, Close to Thee, Close to Thee. Gladly will I toil and suffer, Only let me walk with Thee. Lead me through the vale of shadows, there in a world I've spent all day. In the name of life eternal, may I enter, Lord, with Thee. Close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee, ♪ And the day of life eternal ♪ May I enter, Lord, with Thee ♪ Bow our heads a word of prayer, please, for our offering this morning. Lord Jesus Christ, Lord God, our Father, if you look down from heaven, we just pray. and be honestly with ourselves that you would be pleased with us, that you would see this congregation as a loving congregation, a congregation willing to give a little bit of the blessings and the gifts that you give us through our work and through all the means that we attain wealth from a secular sense. And Lord, that we would give a little bit of this back to you. And how do we do that? We do it by providing it here for this church, for its ministries that it supports. In all the things that we do, we do for the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. In these things we pray, in Christ Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you, Michael. I told Michael this week when I got back from the conference, I was sitting there, there were 800 pastors at this conference. and I'm sitting on the front row, and my pastor friend, Neil, who I went with, I never sit on the front row usually, unless I'm here, I have to, but Neil always has to sit on the front row, and we make, anyway, but up on the platform was an orchestra of so many musicians. I mean, the entire, it was nothing but awesome musicians. And we sang, one song we sang was, oh, the Getty song, In Christ Alone. And when you sing In Christ Alone and that work is starting off low, we're gonna sing that next week, by the way, because it's Reformation Day next week. But I told Michael, I literally had tears coming down my cheeks just singing the music because it was so moving and so powerful. And music has that power, doesn't it? And then I was thinking of, guess what we have here at Cross Life right now? We have Rick over here, you know, playing the bass and Randy on the piano. And I'm wondering, and also I'm thinking, I wonder how many people in our congregation, Carolyn, how many play an instrument that we don't even know about? I don't know. No, I mean, you're not gonna raise your hands. I've got something in the works. Oh, somebody said something at cantata practice recently that they could play right-handed anyway. Oh, that's Michael. Michael plays the accordion. Oh, yeah, right, right. You know, Michael can. Actually, how many of you play? You don't have to tell me what instrument. Raise your hand if you play an instrument. I just want to see. If you play an instrument. Look at this. We do have some musicians here. If you are willing to do that, let me know. If you want to, let me know because I would love to have, we have some services coming up that I would love to include you in some service and have as many instruments that we could put together and we'll meet and we'll practice before that night, but let me know. And that'd be awesome. These people did not get the memo about never raising their hands. No, no. Do all to what? To the glory of God. Does that mean you can play the drums to the glory of God? Matt, where's Matt? Yes, Matt plays the drums. I know that. And I was sitting there watching the drum player, to the glory of God. Anyway, you're getting me on the rabbit trail. I'm sorry. But let's all stand up. Let's all stand up. We got to sing this song, Stand Up, because it's all about being like Jesus today. Right, Carolyn? I have one deep supreme desire, that I be like Jesus. To this I fervently aspire, that I may be like Jesus. I want my heart, His throne to be, So that a watch-eching world may see His likeness shining o'er in me. I want to be like Jesus. A holy, harmless life He lent. I want to be like Jesus. The Father's will is drink and bread. I want to be like Jesus. And when at last He comes to die, forgive them, Father, hear Him cry, for those who taunt and crucify. I want to be like Jesus. A perfect life of Christ my Lord, I want to be like Jesus. ♪ My recompense and my reward ♪ ♪ That I may be like Jesus ♪ ♪ His Spirit fill my unresolved ♪ ♪ His power all my life control ♪ ♪ My deepest prayer ♪ Amen. Thank you so much, Carolyn. ♪ You were the word in the beginning ♪ ♪ One with God, the Lord knows how ♪ ♪ Hidden glory in creation ♪ Now revealed in you, our Christ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ The name of Jesus Christ, my King ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ Nothing compares to this ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ You didn't want heaven without us ♪ So Jesus you brought heaven Your sin was great, your love was greater. What could separate us now? What a wonderful name it is. What a wonderful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a wonderful name it is. Nothing compares to this What a wonderful name it is The name of Jesus Death could not hold you The veil tore before you The silence the boast of sin engraved The heavens are roaring The praise of your glory For you are raised to life again You have no rival You have no equal Now and forever, God You reign Yours is the kingdom Yours is the glory Yours is the name Above all names What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus Christ my King What a powerful name it is Nothing can stand against What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus Christ my King What a powerful name it is Nothing can stand against What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus You have no rival Yours is the kingdom, yours is the glory Yours is the name above all names What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is What a name of Jesus Christ my King What a powerful name it is Nothing can stand against What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus Amen. Thank you so much. In the book of Acts, we find out that there's no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. And what's that name? It's the name of Jesus that the early apostles, the early church leaders, they were literally persecuted because they were preaching in the name of Jesus. You remember that? And they were beat, put on trial, they were released, And what did they do? Kept preaching the name of Jesus. They kept it up because guess what? It's in that name, it's through Jesus that we attain what? Salvation. It's a matter of life and death. It's that important. Take your Bibles and turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5, and we're going to continue our journey through this little letter. Whenever I read an epistle and study an epistle in Scripture, I remember a professor back in Bible college, he would always have us turn, and he'd say, you know, we're reading We're reading someone's mail. It's like reading a letter that was addressed to someone else. This was addressed to the church in Ephesus, but was meant for all the church. Ephesians. We're going to be in chapter 5 as we continue our study. Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, I ask now, I request, your blessing upon your preacher and the preaching of your word. May you be honored and glorified through it all. In Jesus' precious name I pray, amen. Two weeks ago I shared with you a message from Ephesians 5, verse 1, titled, Our Greatest Goal, which is what? Godliness. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's all about Him. And I shared from Ephesians 5, verse 1, where it says, therefore be imitators of God as dear children. I shared with you some things, and we saw in chapter 1 that the church is a body of Christ, it's a temple of the Holy Spirit. In chapter 2, it's a mystery. In chapter 3, Chapter 4 of Ephesians, we saw that we're to be new creatures, that we're a new creation through Christ. Chapter 5, we continue our walk in love as we live our lives for Christ. But all of a sudden, chapter 5, we see that we are part of this family. We're to be imitators of God as dear children. And John chapter 1 said that He has given us the power to become the sons of God, the children of God. He has given us, and do you know what that word, power, means? It means even the word, you can put the word right there, gave you the right. But you only have that right because of Jesus. An obedient family. So we saw our greatest goal was godliness. And then I pointed out that, what's our highest aim? Our highest aim to be like, it says, be imitators of me, imitators of God. That word is replica or mimic. I pointed out to you that really that verse is connected to Ephesians 4, verse 32, and says, And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God and Christ forgave you. And then that's when he said, And so you be imitators of God. And this is what he's talking about. We imitate him by loving one another, being tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as who? just as God, so therefore you do as I do, not just as I say. And then we saw that relationship where he says, therefore imitate, but our highest achievement is this, that we walk in love as Christ. He's our example. We saw within that that the realm is God's love. We saw the representative is God's son. We saw the result is being a sweet smelling aroma. Now I'm sharing all this because I'm gonna start in verse three today and it's connected to verses one and two, but you need to understand what's happening in this text because how in the world can you and I be like Jesus? and for our Heavenly Father to be so pleased that even to Him we're a sweet-smelling aroma." See, Paul told the church in Corinth, the Christians, he said, you know, to God we're like a sweet-smelling aroma, but to the world, not so much. And so taking off of that thought, I want to remind you, number one, I call this the greatest imperative in Scripture, the greatest command. Do you remember what Jesus said is the greatest commandment? What's the greatest commandment? When the scribes came to him, Mark 12, verse 28, And having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he answered them well, asked Jesus, What is the first commandment of all? And Jesus said to him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. This is the first commandment, and the second Like it is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And then Jesus said this, there is no other commandment greater than these. The greatest imperative, the greatest command, love God with everything you got. And then love your neighbor. Can you imagine if the church Applied that. Every day. The difference this world would be. And that's why he said, this is great. Because it goes back to that verse one and two. Hey, God says, you know what? I'm raising the standard for you. Let me show you what it looks like in my son. And guess what? I'm not going to let you make any excuses. I love that. We see the greatest imperative, but the greatest investment is this. Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I, what? If you do what I command you. That's why I keep emphasizing here recently as I prepare to take some folks here who are willing to go deeper in the Word, not just for education's sake, not just for learning, but for the living. You see, knowledge puffs up, doesn't it? So we need to be careful. But let us never forget that the greatest expression of our love is not in the things we give or even the things we give up. But when we give ourselves. That's what it means to lay your life down. It's when you give yourself. And the result is that sweet-smelling aroma. Paul has just shared our highest aim and our highest achievement. Our aim is to imitate our Father. We achieve great things in God's eyes as we follow Jesus Christ, follow His example, and we walk in love. The specific example shared in Jesus's sacrificial love for us, this act of love was what I call a delight to God the Father. A delight to God the Father. So this morning's message is God, the Father's delight. God the Father's delight. What delights God? What causes Him that for you and me to be a sweet smelling aroma to Him? Like that is just, that's awesome. You ever stepped into a room and all of a sudden you just smelled something and said, wow. It's like that coffee early in the morning, right? Or I like to ride my motorcycle and I've shared this like in the springtime. You go down the road and you smell them honeysuckles, right? There's a lot of things that are just delightful. But I wanna share something that happened this week. Now how do we even come close to pleasing God like Jesus? Michael's gonna play a clip for you in a second. But I met this couple this week, and even the way that I met Scott and Janet, I had no idea their background, their story. All I know is I was at a conference, and I was walking around this room, and actually my friend Neil, my pastor, Pastor Warner, we were looking at all these vendors, all the stuff that they were presenting, and Neil, he's with me, and we were out having lunch together, and he asked me, he said, hey Quint, can you do me a favor? I went by this one booth, and they're selling paintings in there. This lady painted this one painting that I want to buy for my wife. And he goes, I don't have cash on me. Can you lend me some money? I'm like, well, how much is it? I only have a little bit on me, right? And he said, it's only $25. I said, yeah, I'll loan you some money. I'd have that. So anyway, I gave him the cash. And then later he introduces me. We walk into the table and all of a sudden I see the display and I see the artwork. And I'm like, wow, this is beautiful. And Neil goes, that's the one that I want to get. It was only $25. Now, you know, I'm a hobby of mine is photography. And I know what a frame costs, and I know what the mat costs, and I know it takes a long time to make something pleasing to the eye. To put for $25, I'm thinking, I looked at the lady and I said, you're not charging enough. And she agreed with me, but she said, now this is, and I just met, that was the first thing I said to this lady, Janet, you're not charging enough. And then we started, and she started telling me the story behind the paintings. And all of a sudden, next thing you know, I'm hearing her story, and I'm like, I got, you gotta come to my church and share your testimony someday. Because her husband stepped up, and he was a pastor. But as I met this couple, Scott and Janet Willis, God gave me another glimpse of His grace as I heard their testimony. How would you respond if what happened to Scott and Janice happened to you? Now, I did not know their story. All I saw was a piece of artwork. That's all I saw. That's all I knew at the time. And this is what I found out. This is an older clip, and then when she started sharing her testimony, my mind went back to years ago, being in a church plant, and we prayed for this family. Because I remember, all of a sudden I remembered, I remember this. Michael, can you just play this clip from, this is Scott sharing something right after this event happened in their lives. But how would you respond if this happened to you? As far as the accident is concerned, I was looking at the road and was alert. I thought I could not avoid hitting the object. When we hit the object, the rear exploded, taking the car out of control. And I was able to grip the wheel and take it out of the slide. The fire was around us even before the van stopped sliding, and I was yelling to get out of the car. Janet and I had to consciously put our hands into the flames to unbuckle the seatbelts and reach for the door handles. Ben had to unbuckle, unlock, and unlatch his door. Courageous and clear-thinking work for a 13-year-old boy. As to the future, we are going to laugh and smile with tremendous memories of the kids. We will try our best to acknowledge the outpouring of sympathy and encouragement from the people of America toward us. Also, I look forward to being back in Parkwood's pulpit and in room 201 teaching fifth grade at Dawes School in Chicago. We are looking also for God's leading and directing in our lives. I must tell you that we hurt and sorrow, as you parents would for your children. The depth of pain is indescribable. The Bible expresses our feelings, that we sorrow, but not as those without hope. The hardest part of all was visiting Benny in intensive care, knowing he was alive, but that he would not make it. Around midnight his big brother and he wrote, Toby was with Ben when he died. Toby came back and said to me, Ben is in heaven. The truth of God's word assures me that Ben, Joe, Sam, Hank, Elizabeth and Peter are in heaven with Jesus Christ. King David said upon the death of his infant son, can I bring him back again? I shall go to him and he shall not return to me. As believers, we know one day we will be reunited. Psalm 34 says, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. will taste and see that the Lord is good. Jen and I want to praise and thank God. First, for six precious children, four rascally boys, a sweet girl so much like her mother, and a little baby just beginning to smile and grow. We know that the fullness of life is not measured in days and years. Secondly, I thank God for a sweet, loving, and submissive wife. Thirdly, I thank God for his preparation for this trial. On February 5th, 1975, I trusted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. And through his word, his testings, and our failings, the testimony and fellowship of others, God taught us his love, his grace, and his goodness. The five youngest children died instantly. No sound was heard by Janet or myself as we struggled to get out of the van. Then he courageously made it out and he was conscious at the accident scene. There are so many people to thank. All the rescue workers, ambulance crews, Flight for Life, particularly off-duty police officer Shea, the first to reach us. An unknown man took his shirt off his back in order to soak Benny's wounds, and another beat out the burning clothes on Janet's back. We want to thank the nurses that have become very precious to us for their care and comfort. And we want to thank the doctors, Dr. Youssef, Dr. Wong, Dr. Cooper, Dr. Larson. We want to thank the people of Milwaukee and the people of our beloved city of Chicago for their sympathy and their encouragement. We want to thank the people who visited us and listened as we shared about our little ones. We want to thank the generous people all over this nation. As far away as Hawaii, we send cards and flowers and gifts. We also want to thank our brothers and sisters at Parkwood Baptist Church and the hundreds of churches who have lifted us up in prayer before the Lord. Lastly, we thank our families who were such a special blessing. Our daughter Amy and her husband Alan, our son Toby and his wife Brenda, and our son Dan and his wife Kim. Lastly, I want to thank the media for their kind and compassionate reporting of our great loss. Thank you. Can you imagine? See, we can imitate God here at Cross-Life Bible Church when we gather together and lift our voices and sing, but when Monday morning comes around and we face all these things that we're dealing with, that's the lesson in this. God is real, and He's God and we're not. His power is real, His presence is real. Our problems are real. We're messed up. In our walk of love, we're to be a delight to our Father. We must take into consideration there's five things that will protect us. as we live for Him. Look back at your copy of God's Word, Ephesians 5. In verse 3, I want you to share with you five things this morning that's going to protect us. And why is this so important? This is so important because we live in a messed up world. I'm going to come back to that slide. I want us to think, first of all, of pleasing our Father, being in our Father's delight. I want us to consider our identification. It says in verse 3, now we just learned about walking in love. We were told as an imperative, I want you to walk in love. And then under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul goes to say, but fornication And I'll put the Greek word there for you to see what the word is, is pornia. In all uncleanliness, which is impurity, or covetousness, greed, let it not even be, what? Don't let that be named among you. Now he's talking to us as dear children. It's a loving father setting out some rules to protect us, right? He's providing His direction for us. And this is the church of Ephesus. They have come out of a religion that worshiped Diana, the priestess. Part of their worship had to do with fornication. It was a perverted way of worship. And Paul's saying, but when you look at the love, as you walk in love, the love that we walk in as believers, it is totally opposite of the world's. He says, but fornication, all of this, don't even let it be named among you as it is fitting. There are certain things that should stand out to the world because we're His holy ones, we're His saints. That's what He's saying. So He says, your identification with Me is very, very important. Don't even let it be named. Don't let people identify this with you. That's where the world is. You're to be different. And the reality is everywhere we turn, even in Carroll County, would you say that poor Nia is a problem in our society? Is it a problem within the families? Is it a problem at the local high school, middle school, and even elementary school? Do you realize there are people doing their best to indoctrinate our children in the ways of the world that we would call Purnia. And to the world that is natural. That is, sad to say, it has become normal. I have in my hand, and you can look this up for yourself, it's just this past week, something that made my stomach turn, is we have a new admiral in our country. Did you see that? And you know what's sad? Is our government, who we pray for, when they elevate a person like Rachel Levin, to that status, but they do not brag about her achievement and what she has achieved, right, in business. What was the one thing that they kept bragging about? The porneia is what God calls it. The perversion of how God created this person that he died for. They have perverted it. As a matter of fact, as you read her background, which I did, do you realize what school she went to? Do you realize that she actually went to Harvard? Do you know anything about Harvard? Do you realize that the founding of our country, or even before the founding of our country, back in the 1600s, John Harvard started that school with a purpose. Do you know the purpose? Because he had a burden for churches. They trained pastors. Because, if I can find the quote here, this is the quote. And actually it was the Massachusetts colonial legislator authorized Harvard's funding, and this is what they said, they dreaded to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches. An illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust. When our present ministers are gone, who's going to take their place? We do not want them to be illiterate. Illiterate in what? In the Word of God. I had this picture here. This is actually Harvard's seal. This is their shield. Do you see the word written on that shield? Veritas. Three little books. And what do those books represent, or what did they represent? When it was first founded, what does Veritas mean, do you know? In the Latin? Truth. It was all about proclaiming the truth from God's Word at the beginning, but they still use this seal today, but this is what they claim. Now they are considered a university that does research, where they are discovering what they deem, what they call truth, so they can proclaim this to the world. But they're not looking for that here. And they're the elites. They're the ones that's calling the shots. They're the ones that's sitting on the screen when you turn your evening news on. They're the ones. And they sure know how to proclaim their truth. And they are so convincing. Isn't that sad? So do we give up? Nope. What do we do? We prayed this morning. I got to join the prayer meeting this morning, and Dawn was reminding us something that she read, how, hey, we're living in a messed up world. And how did you put it, Dawn? What was it? How you challenged the gentleman who wrote the book? We're living in a messed up world, but what do we do? We keep on living, marrying, having children, doing what God calls us to do, even though we're just like those captives. And we keep on living and doing what God called us to do. We don't sink in fear, right? We don't go hide away. When the COVID hits, I can tell you, what happens? Hey, everyone stay home. We're told to go into all the world and preach the gospel. If you really believe people are dying of COVID, and you really believe that Jesus is the only way, do you want to go hide, or do you want to go share the gospel with people that may be dying of COVID? I'm not going to go any further with that. You just think about that, okay? But we also see the interaction, not just our identification, but neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not what? Look at the word. That's not fitting. But rather, more to a greater degree, but actually that's the definition of but rather that's what rather means to a greater degree this is what you should be doing don't don't be involved in this but you should be giving even the midst of the world that we live in we should be giving what do we have something to thank the Lord about this morning This video I just shared you, one reason I wanted you to see it was, did you notice that before all those cameras and all those microphones, what did Mr. Willis do most that you just heard? Did you catch what he did? He was giving thanks. And he was praising. Eleven days after, now if you look into the eyes of his wife, she was hurting beyond words. And as the leader of that family, and as a pastor, it was all he could do to stand there and share what he shared on those cameras. But that mother, Janet, was hurting. But they still found something to give thanks about. How about you and me? What are we known for? As we interact with the world, Are we known for our thankfulness? You know, I see the reality of this, but thank God. Right? But thank God I have something. We don't grieve like the rest of the world. Because thank God our hope is in Jesus. You do know that misery loves company. Never forget that. So when you feel like you're the one, yeah, I can jump right in, I can empathize with that. Yeah, it's great to empathize, but don't leave it there. Turn that into that encouragement and say, I thank God that we have someone that we can look to right now. In the midst of this, no matter what the circumstance is, I promise you there's something, and the one that you keep pointing to is not yourself and not even the Willis family, because who did they look to? to Jesus, because no matter how bad it is, the author and the finisher of our faith, He endured the cross and went all the way. So we see not only that, but we see our inheritance. For this you know, that no fornicators or unclean persons nor covetous man who is an idolater, and that word idolater is a worshiper of a false god, an image worshiper. has, which is in the present active indicative, and that's important as you break this verse down, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Many people are confused over this verse because it talks about our inheritance as believers, but here Paul is saying, this you know, that those who are living in this world And he describes the idolater. He goes, you realize they do not have an inheritance coming to them like the believer does. Do you see that? So some people will think, well, pastor, did I lose my salvation because I have been involved in some of these sins on this list, or this list in Corinthians? What is this telling me? Do I have any hope? You see right here where it says, you are. an image worshiper. That's the present, it's the active, and it's indicative of you in the present moment. You see, those who do not know Christ as their Savior, that's the state that they are in at the moment. But what happens when they receive Christ as their Savior? He washes all that away. Now here's what you need to know. If you made a profession of faith and there has never been a difference in your life, come talk to me. Because some folks have been deceived and they think a prayer may have saved them. Prayer does not save us. It's our faith in Christ alone. Right? Our prayer expresses what takes place in the heart. We confess with our mouth. We believe in our hearts. And therefore, when we're made new, He gives us the ability, under the power of the Holy Spirit, to overcome these things. But if you are habitually, and you are living in that world, the Apostle Paul says, you know what? You don't have an inheritance. This is what's indicative of you right now, in the present, because you're actively involved in this. So therefore, consider your influence, God says, let no one deceive you with empty. These words that are devoid of truth, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not partake with them. Folks, we are being swayed to be like the rest of the world. No! We're not in the same category. Someone may stand up behind a pulpit, and someone may be on TV, and even at times trying to make us feel foolish for what we believe and what we do. But our God says, no, we do not partake in that. Even when we are in the minority. The remnant. That's okay, I understand that. But don't let them deceive you with their empty words. It's all empty. And that those sons of disobedience, they have already been mentioned in Ephesians 2, verse 2. They are the unsaved. Where the wrath of God is already upon the sons of disobedience. Those who do not know Christ as their Savior. We're to be different so that we can lead them to Jesus. If you make yourself look like them and act like them, Learn their ways. Guess what's going to happen? You're not going to be the light. And that's what he says next. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. So therefore, walk as children of light. We were just told, walk in love. Now walk as children of light. And in that light, remember the fruit, for the fruit of the light, or the fruit of the Spirit, is in all goodness, righteousness, and what? This is the fruit that we bear before the world in this dark world. You know the verse that says that we are to be the light of the world? And Jesus says that, hey, as we're the light, what do we do? We bring glory to who? As they see our good works. Right? This is actually a miniature painting. This is Janet, Janet Willis. This is the painting that my friend Neil saw, and he bought the big version, all framed, and that was the only one she had. So I came back later and said, Janet, I want to buy that same, because after she shared with us the story behind the painting, she says, well, you know what's interesting about this? She says, you know when I painted this, she had all these paintings of, now listen to me, her artwork today, I think all of it except for this one. was paintings of the New Jerusalem. And by reading scripture, what she could picture heaven's gonna be like. Why would a mom who lost six children, why is she so fixated on heaven? That's not a mystery, is it? And her husband told her with this painting, she said, I painted this as a project when I was in college. I was 18 years old, I painted this picture of this fruit. And she told me this, she goes, this is my worst painting. I was still learning. But my husband saw the painting and said, you need to put that out. And she said, but what made the difference was not the painting, it was the verse. And that's the verse. And this is when she shared this verse, this is when she shared her testimony with me. She says, I'm divine, you're the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth fruit. And then she hesitated. And this is when she started getting choked up. And she said, for without him I can do nothing. That's where I was. I couldn't do nothing. I couldn't do nothing. You ever felt like that? You just can't do nothing. Do you know that's where God wants us to be? He wants you to realize you can't do nothing. That's why I'm here. It's those who think they can do everything. You just keep on doing your thing. Jesus told the Pharisees, you know what? You're going to get your reward. You want your reward? You've got it. You want the praise of men? You've got the praise of men. But then he looks at his disciples, that's not for you. One day, you're going to get your glory. Go ahead and take your praise today if you want it. But that's so short-lived. Without me, ye can do what? Nothing! And to hear Janet tell the story just was amazing. It was like, again, the grace of God coming from the lips of this sweet lady. And I'm going to share something just here in just a few minutes with you that just, again, it gave me goosebumps as I looked over and saw this book that she had. But also look at the find. Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. As His dear children, He goes, I want you to come to me. And guess what? I want you to find out. I'm telling you what not to do, but let me tell you. Come to me, I'll tell you what you need to find out. Right? What's acceptable to Him. Look at the fellowship. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful for even to speak of these things which are done by them in secret. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, in the darkness, and Jesus, remember, he brought out the light. He told Nicodemus, those who hide in the darkness, they don't like the light because it exposes things. Same thing here is what Paul's saying, but all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. And you know what Paul is sharing with you and me here at Cross Life today? Yes, Jesus is the light of the world, but he also reminds that we are also lights. And God is using you and me as his image bearers, as his light bearer, to manifest to this world, to convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. But that only happens. That doesn't happen automatically. That happens as we live and walk in his love and walk in his light. That's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. Don't you love it when you are making a mistake and someone comes in and says, hey, let me show you a better way of doing this. When you shed light on something for someone. And let me tell you the reason why the world is living the way it's living, because it's natural to them. They don't have the light. So when you learn how to share the truth in love and say, well, what do you think about Admiral Rachel? Say, well, it's not really a matter of what I feel about Admiral Rachel. I can tell you what God says. See, God created, I can't remember his name. It's not a she, he's a he, dressed like a she, right? Do you realize that in schools today our children are being taught that there's a difference between their sex and their gender? Are you aware of that? This is not a small deal, this is a big deal. This is in the mainstream. The fellowship that we have. My last point, number five, is this, the faithfulness in the favor. Therefore, he says, You read that with me. Read that quote right there. Therefore he says what? Alright, hold on, I'm making sure you're awake actually. Therefore he says, Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you what? Do you know what this verse is talking about? Is this verse talking to the saved or to the unsaved? In the context of this passage I just read to you, Is this in the context of someone being saved or unsaved? It's in the context of the saved. Now you can say, wait a minute, we're not dead. The illustration here is to the saved. And it's taken, it's a Isaiah 60 verse 1. It's a passage that's very similar where God is talking to Israel and telling them to wake up. Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. But he says, therefore, awake you who sleep. Arise from the dead. And when it says, arise from the dead, you know what he's talking about? He's talking about the dead. You get up and arise. We're surrounded by who? Those who need Christ as their Savior. They are dead. They are in darkness. Therefore, you and I, the laborers of you, arise. Get up! And guess what? As you get up and follow Him, the One who's faithful in our faithfulness, guess what He does? He will give you what? He's the One who's going to shine on your path to show you the next step. And as you take the next step, guess what? It's just like this light right here. If I turn this down, you have light shining in my direction. And as you're doing the wrong, you know, if I'm walking in a world with the rest of the world, I'm just like they are. Then all of a sudden you start doing something different. You know what Christ says? I'm going to shine a light on. I'm the one to turn the light on. And usually when you're up on a platform like this and the lights are shining your direction, everyone's looking in your direction, right? Because I want to shine a light on what you're doing to show the world. What? What He, about Him. We're to imitate Him. We've got enough people shining the light on themselves. It makes all the difference when God shines His light. We call that grace. We call that favor. Right? That's what grace is, when we don't deserve it. I'll never forget years ago when Larry Hogan was running for governor, and he went to a friend of mine, and a friend of mine, he had a lot of resources, a lot of money. And Larry Hogan asked him for financial support. And he said he looked at Larry, and at that time he did not feel like, felt led to help him financially. But this is what he said to Larry. He said, what I'm going to do, I'm going to pray for God's favor. He said, and Larry Hogan looked at him like he was a Martian. But wasn't that a wise answer? Because when God turns His light on and shows that favor, because really, what is God doing with us? That they may see our good works and give, what? Glory to Him. Don't ever forget that he that cometh to God must first even believe that He is. Then second, that He's a rewarder of those who seek Him. That's the first step of faith. They don't even know Jesus yet. Their first step is, yes, there is a God. If he's a God, he's a rewarder also. He gets personally involved. Therefore he says, Awake you who are asleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. Now listen to me, in Scripture there's always one interpretation but many applications. You can apply this to the unsaved. Because the unsaved are dead. And I can picture, theologically, how God, for anyone to come to God, who does the calling first? He does, by His grace. By grace we're saved through faith. I can see Him shaking people to wake them up. By His grace. Those who sleep. Only He can bring life to them, right? Arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. Now, for the invitation, I want Michael to show this last little video of Janet. She wrote this little book. I had my message title selected a couple weeks ago that I shared with you, and I had God's Delight. I look over at this book, and she wrote this book, it's called A Dad's Delight. Now, I didn't know the story of the book. I said, that's a cool picture. Did you paint that? Yep, I illustrated this book. I illustrated the book. And you're going to see the book. And you can go on her website and buy this book. But it's an amazing invitation that I want you to see how she illustrated through the life of this little boy. Michael, can you go ahead and play this? A Dad's Delight. Hank loved baseball, and Dad loved Hank. It all started early one morning, right off the bat. Hank Boston, Dad named his new son, even though they lived in Chicago. Now, what's his real name, Grandma asked. But this was one time Dad wasn't kidding. As little Hank grew, Dad explained. When I was a young baseball fan, my hero played for the Boston Red Sox. He was the greatest hitter who ever lived. When Hank was three and a half, he drew a picture of himself making sure to put a B on his cap. That's for Boston, he told everyone. Dad made time for his boys. Who wants to play catch, he often called. I do, rang out all over the house as each boy grabbed his cap and mitt and dashed after Dad. When Dad was at work, the boys played wiffle ball for hours in their small backyard. Went the bat. I've got it, Sam called. Way to go, Hank, yelled as Sam made a diving catch. When Hank turned six, his family moved to a new place in Chicago where he got his big chance. The older boys were all on Little League teams, but Sam's team needed another player. I've got a little brother, Sam said. So Hank was in. Uniform and all. Sometimes he played short center or even second base, but what he really wanted to do was pitch. One game, Hank begged, Coach, we're way ahead. Please, Coach, please can I pitch? Please? Finally, Coach said, OK. Hank whispered to himself, I remember Dad showed us that old time baseball movie. Maybe I'll try that old time pitch. He spun his arm around and around and around, then let it fly. Dad, Dad, did you see that? Two innings and I didn't give up a run. Hank beamed. The next day, Hank was excited. His pitching career was off to a great start. He jumped out of bed, gobbled down his breakfast, and hurried to his chores. Everybody is busy, so I'll just practice by myself, Hank said as he went outside. Now, his family had moved to a new second-floor apartment, and Hank eyed the big brick wall right next to Dad's downstairs office. That's a perfect spot for pitching practice, Hank said. Then he read the rule posted in the window. No ball playing near the building. Oh, just this once, I'll be really careful, he decided. Suddenly, upstairs, Mom heard Mom met her boy as he came slowly up the stairs. Hank, this is pretty serious, she said. You'll have to wait till Dad comes home. Hank waited at his bedroom window all afternoon. He gazed down the street, took a deep breath, and sighed to himself. This is the longest day of my life. Finally, the van pulled up. Dad had no trouble figuring out the culprit. I'm in big trouble now, Hank said softly as he followed Dad downstairs to the office. I know I broke the rule, Dad, Hank admitted, and I'm really sorry. That's good, but Hank, there's still a problem. Dad answered. Someone is going to have to pay for this window. Dad thought for a minute, put his arm around Hank, then continued. I know I've broken some rules myself, Hank. And even though I was sorry, I learned a penalty eventually would have to be paid. But there was someone who didn't want me to have to pay, so he paid it for me. Oh, I know who that was. Jesus, Hank said. Dad slowly nodded. He is the greatest hero of all. Then Hank watched as Dad bent down, found the ball, and carefully brushed off the broken glass. I'll pay for the window, Hank. Just sign the ball. Then Dad put it up on his bookshelf. Hank learned an important lesson that day, a lesson about a father's mercy. And more than that, Hank learned giving mercy was dad's delight. Who is a God like you who pardons sin? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy. Micah 7.18 This is a true story. The names and places have not been changed to protect the guilty, because the guilty are guilty no more. I told Janet I'd share that with you this morning. And that picture that he drew, that was, he really drew that picture, and that's the picture that she uses in all the, all their logo for their company is, that logo came from his, he's the one who drew that, little Hank. Can you imagine a mom painting those pictures of her kids? That's what God can do, right? That's His delight. What about you this morning? Have you ever received praise as your Savior? I pray that you have. If not, you know what you can do this morning? You can again prove how delighted God is when He delights to share what? Mercy. He delights in it. So maybe that's you today. Let's bow our heads. Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, I thank you so much, Lord, for this week, Lord. Again, no matter how much we know and how much we learn, we know there's more. There's more to the story. I thank you for the people that you bring into our lives. I thank you for those witnesses, those faithful witnesses. Some are in front of us, some are behind us, but here we are, Lord. I think of that little boy many years ago in that Sunday school classroom who bowed his head and asked you to come into his heart and wash away his sins. And I'm so thankful that You came into my heart and You have never left me, You have never forsaken me, not for one second. But I've messed up many times, and I have experienced Your mercy many times. And I'm so thankful for Your grace this morning. But maybe there's someone here today, they do not know You as their Savior and their Lord. I pray that even now at this moment, that as You convict their hearts, as You convince their minds, as only You can, Lord, I pray that this would be the moment of their salvation. And right there where you're sitting, you may say, Pastor, I've never received Jesus as my Savior. Right there where you're sitting, you can cry out to Him in your heart of hearts and pray to God and say, Dear God, I admit that I have sinned and fallen short of your glory. I admit that. I know that. My sin has separated me from you. But I believe with all my heart that Jesus died for me. I believe that, and that He was buried for me. I believe that, and that He arose again, came out of that grave for me. I believe that with all of my heart. So therefore this morning, I want to put my faith, my trust in Jesus, in Jesus alone for my salvation. The Bible says that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Thank you, Lord. Thank you so much for seeking and saving the lost. Thank you for using us. For your honor and your glory, we do live in a dark world, a dead world, but may we exemplify what life looks like as we walk in your light, as you shine your light on us, so the world may see. and come to know you as their Savior. And we give you all the praise, the honor, and the glory. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen. If you have received Christ as your Savior, or if you want to know more about having a relationship with God through Jesus, please see me. I would love to talk to you more about that. At this time, Carolyn, if you can come forward, we're going to sing our last song. And we talked about being close to God before, And this is the same verse, come near to Him and He'll come near to you, but it's a different song. What's this song about? I think it's like any relationship, you can always endeavor to be closer, nearer. We are, you know, draw near to God, He will draw near to you. I think about Paul, and there are times when, you know, like we're sitting together watching TV or whatever we're doing, and we're close together, and then I'll just feel like, okay, I want to be just a little closer. Usually because I'm freezing and he's the warm one, but, you know, all the ladies know what I mean. You just want to be. closer in that moment. I could just say one thing about the presentation. Pastor attached those videos in an email this week and I watched both of them and it was when he and I were communicating about music and I said to you, commented on just how heartbreaking, who can imagine such grief, but about the book, I was so touched by how adorable the illustrations were in the book. and not knowing that the mother was there. I thought maybe the mom is the artist, but they were so good. I mean like 100% what you'd expect from a professional children's book illustrator. So now that I know the whole story, it's like even better. So anybody who still has that email and hasn't had time to watch it, watch. It's like really, really good. Mirror, still mirror, close to thy heart, draw me, my Savior, so precious now. Hold me, oh, hold me close to thy breast. Shelter me safe in that haven of rest. Shelter me safe in that haven of rest. Nearer, still nearer, nothing I bring. to Jesus my King. Only my sinful, now contrite heart grant me the cleansing thy blood doth impart. the cleansing thy blood doth impart. Nearer, still nearer, while life shall last, feel safe in glory, while anchor is cast. Endless ages never to meet. Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to me. Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to me. Dear Gracious Holy Father, I thank you so much, Lord, for this day. Lord, as we shared at the beginning, it was going to be a special service, as they all are, because, Lord, you're awesome. As we sang Friday night, how great thou art, as we looked up to the heavens and saw the many stars, and then we witnessed the sunset, as you said before, the fire. And as someone shared with me what fire represents, even with judgment on one side, but how nice it was to sit around that fire in fellowship. And we thank you for the times that you bring into our lives, Lord, as you burn certain things that we need to get rid of. And as it purifies, so that we can get rid of the dross. So that we can shine for you, reflect your image. follow you in your way. Thank you so much for this day. We pray for safety as we leave this place. Pray for the folks over at Ridge Overlook as we go over and have a church service there this afternoon. And we just lift all these things up before you. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen. Thank you. Thank you so much.