I'm also thankful to be in front of you today, and I didn't set out to write a Thanksgiving sermon, nor did I really set out to write a Christmas sermon, but as the preparation process happened, I think you're going to find elements of both of those things in our text today. So we gather this Lord's Day, having just celebrated Thanksgiving. Since I was young, Thanksgiving has always been really a favorite holiday of mine. And I think it's because it seems to be less polluted by materialism, which marks really all of the other major holidays. And I find this interesting because Thanksgiving is not necessarily a Christmas holiday, I'm sorry, a Christian holiday, meaning that you're not going to find it on, you know, the church's liturgical calendar. even though the act of giving thanks is a deeply Christian act. And if we are to give thanks, we must first perform the act of remembrance. Without proper remembrance, Thanksgiving has no basis. We have no ability to express. We have no ability to express what we're thankful for. In other words, if we fail to remember, it's also going to result in a failure to give thanks. And it's clear from scripture that one of the most important yet overlooked spiritual disciplines for the Christian life is the spiritual act of remembrance. Remembrance is a calling to mind of the particular moments of your past as part of an explanation for how you arrived at where you are today. And I would say that unique to the human condition is the ability and the expectation to remember to remember those things which really we had no direct experience of. We remember events in our history which really preceded our existence all the way back to creation itself. These things, they shape us, they direct us, and they provide meaning to us. They help us to interpret our own lives and also the world around us. One of the great maladies of our fallen human condition is the failure to remember. In this way, we act more like animals than we act as image bearers of the one who created us. Take this, for example, a rabbit may remember, you know, exactly where his warren is skillfully hidden, but a rabbit has no memory or awareness of anything before he ever came into existence. Now a rabbit will do which a rabbit does and that to the glory of God. It's not bad for a rabbit to be a rabbit, but it is disordered and it is sinful if a human being were to act like one. For a human being to fail to remember, that is a real problem and it reveals a heart which is darkened and unable to see the glory and the majesty of God as he works in time and history. really to bring us to the very point where we are today. A failure to remember is an act of spiritual sedition for the reason that without it, we are unable to properly respond to our creator. So it's good that we remember. Naturally, it's also good that we be reminded by someone who is serving in the role of a reminder. This is really what we have before us in our texts today. The Apostle Paul wrote to his close associate Titus regarding the young church which was established on the Mediterranean island of Crete. Paul wrote three letters which are commonly known as the pastoral epistles, and if you've been coming to Sunday school, you know this. Two letters were written to Timothy, who was overseeing the establishment of the church in Ephesus, and one to Titus, who was overseeing the establishment of the church in Crete. Now these letters, they share much in common, for it appears that these two churches were really in a similar context and facing many of the same challenges. Paul had a three-fold aim, and we've reviewed this a lot in Sunday school. He had a three-fold aim in these letters to these associates, Timothy and Titus. Since the apostle was away, Timothy and Titus served as his apostolic representatives. They were to set these churches in order by focusing their efforts on three foundational commitments. First, they were to insist on sound doctrine, for false teachers had already crept in and were leading many astray. Second, they were to help the church identify qualified elders to lead the church and deacons to serve the church. And thirdly, they were to instruct the people to commit themselves to godly living and good works. Paul wrote the pastoral epistles to remind Timothy and Titus that which they had already learned from Paul concerning the faith and to help them to apply that knowledge to the churches where they were commissioned to serve and set in order. So if you would, please turn with me in your Bible to Titus chapter 3, and we're going to be reading verses 1 through 8. Titus chapter 3, 1 through 8. In this beautiful text, we're gonna see that Paul is addressing the importance of sound doctrine and also godly living. So let us turn our attention to the reading of God's word. Starting in verse one. Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also were once foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy. by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement. And concerning these things, I want you to speak confidently so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men. As we examine this portion of text, we're going to look at four instructions that were given by the Apostle Paul to Titus. This is for you note takers. There's going to be four instructions that come from the Apostle Paul in our text today. And let's start with number one. Paul's first instruction. Remind them how to act. Remind them how to act. This is obviously verses one and two, particularly remind them how to act toward unbelievers. Here's what it says. Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. So Paul begins this section of our text today with the imperative for Titus to remind them. What follows in verses 1 and 2 are really ethical instructions for the church in Crete. And when I say ethical instructions, I mean instructions about how the church is to live in the world. The doctrine, so that which they are to believe, undergirding the ethical instruction, will come later in verses 3 through 8, followed by more ethical instructions towards the end of verse 8. We'll see that in just a few minutes. But in verses one through two, Paul is concerned with how the church is to relate to those who are outside of the church, to the unbelieving world. First up, he wants the church to be subject and to be obedient to the rulers and authorities, which really exercise governance in and over the island of Crete. This is consistent with many other New Testament texts, such as Romans 13, one through seven. And here's the important point. The church in submitting herself or subjecting herself to Christ does not eliminate the biblical expectation that she, wherever she lives in the world, must continue to be subject to the rulers and to the rulers and the authorities. Authorities which God himself has instituted for the proper ordering of worldly affairs. Beyond that, Paul wants Titus to remind their church that their action towards all men is to be peaceable, to be gentle, to be considerate, to always be ready for every good deed. You see that also there in verses one and two. Let's pause and ask ourselves a question. Why is this? What is the reason that Paul is telling them to do these things? And I think that scripture provides us with multiple answers to this question. What's the reason for this? I'm just gonna run through a few of them for you. The first one is if the church is to suffer, and we know that the church does suffer from time to time, if the church is to suffer, it needs to suffer because of its righteousness and because of its blamelessness, not because of its own wrongdoing or because of its foolishness. If you're taking notes, you can write down 1 Peter 4, 15 and 16 for an example of that. That's the first reason. Number two, secondly, in Paul's first letter to Timothy, so one of the first of the pastoral epistles, Paul instructs Timothy that the church is to pray for all men, particularly those who are in authority. so that the church might lead a peaceful and quiet life in all dignity. You can read about that in 1 Timothy 2, verses 1 through 2. If the church has a reputation of being a disruptor of the civil order, then the church would basically become a target by the authorities, and the church's work would become frustrated in that process. So instead, Paul encouraging Timothy to have the church to pray for these authorities. Okay, that the church may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all dignity. A third reason, there are evangelical priorities, okay, properly rooted in this verse. When those who are outside of the church see the good deeds and the regard that is expressed by the church, okay, there will be many who will be drawn into the church. Okay, we know that that happens. Some will see the fruit and they will be drawn into it just as surely as there will be many who see the fruit and who are repulsed by it. Okay, what does Jesus say in Matthew chapter 5? Let your good deeds shine before men that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Now a fourth reason is going to be the reason that Paul goes on to address to Titus in verse 3. And I think that we can summarize the fourth reason why the church is to be subject to the authorities and to show goodness to all men. I think that we can summarize it this way. They are to show them how to act towards outsiders by reminding them that they were once like them. Remind them how to act towards outsiders by reminding them that they were once like them. So in our text today, we first saw that Paul once tied us to show the church, remind them how to act, and this brings us to our second instruction. Remind them who they were. This is gonna be in verse three, remind them who they were. Verse three says this, for we, interestingly enough, Paul includes himself in that statement, for we also were once foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. So the reason that Paul gives for how the church is to act towards those institutions and individuals who are outside of the church really boils down to the simple truth that you, the Christian, were once like them. You, the Christian, were once like them. In fact, this reveals that the only difference between those inside the church and those outside the church is the mercy and the grace of God shown to the one and not to the other. For every believer, Paul included, there was a time when you were foolish, you were disobedient, you were deceived. And before being enslaved to the Lord Jesus through your conversion, you also were enslaved to various lusts and pleasures and spending your energies on maliciousness and envy. And you channeled hatred instead of love. Given that this is who Christians were, Paul instructs those inside the church not to be arrogant towards those who are outside of it. For such an attitude would not be the attitude of Christ Jesus, which is on display in the church and toward the outside world. The church needs to be reminded to have a low view of themselves and at the same time a high view of the grace and mercy of God. Arrogance towards unbelievers reveals really opposite priorities. A high view of self manifested in self-righteousness and a low view of the grace and mercy of God. A grace and mercy which is saving sinners and which consequently is the only substantive difference between those in the church and those who are outside of it. And anytime you see an unbeliever, no matter how unpleasant they may be towards you or how bad their attitude is towards you, our attitude towards them should be something like this. Here is someone who was just who is just like I used to be. And apart from the grace and mercy of God, I would still be like them. If God freely chose to bestow upon me the gift of salvation, then he may extend the same grace and mercy to this person. We really need to be reminded of these things because we are daily confronted with wickedness, which is in the world. We're rightly horrified by the lawlessness and the unrighteousness and the misery that we see all around us. And it's easy for us to respond like the Pharisee does in Luke chapter 18, verses 11 through 12. And y'all remember the story. Okay, the Pharisee praying to God says, God, I thank you that I am not like other people. swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a day. I pay tithes for all that I get. And instead of responding like, instead of responding like the, I'm sorry, let me say that again. So we see the Pharisee's response, God, thank you that I'm not like this, but rather we should be responding like the tax collector, which we see in verse 13. And what does the tax collector say when he prays? But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. You see, the Pharisee was arrogant towards those that he saw as those who were outside the kingdom of God. And therefore, he revealed that he understood nothing of the grace and the mercy of God. The tax collector, on the other hand, understood his condition, and he recognized that the only escape from it was the grace and the mercy of God. You'll know that the story concludes with the second man, the tax collector. He's the one who went home justified. So to conclude this second point, for us to know how we are to act in the world, we need to be reminded of who we were apart from the grace and mercy of God. We were children of wrath, just like the rest of mankind. So Paul's first instruction to remind them how to act. Second instruction, remind them who they were. This brings us to the third instruction, which is to remind them who they are. This will be the longest reminder that we look at this morning. Remind them who they are. This is going to be verses 4 through 8a. So if you look in your Bible, verses 4 through 8a, remind them who they are. So Paul, gratefully, does not stop by reminding us who we were. That would be discouraging, to say the least. Perhaps more importantly than being reminded who we were, we need to be reminded who we are, specifically who we are in Christ because of what God has done for us through Christ. What follows in verses 4 through 8a is one of the most doctrinally rich articulations of the gospel found anywhere in scripture. It's one of the many trustworthy statements that we find in the pastoral epistles. And it was likely a creedal statement or an early confession that the early church would recite or they would sing together during worship. It was likely confessed by an individual when they were baptized into the church. And as such, it's something that the church in Crete already knew, and yet they needed to be reminded of it. In this, we see that sound doctrine is immensely practical. This early confession lies at the heart of Paul's broader argument about how the church is to live. If we were to take it away, we'd be blind. We wouldn't know how to live. But this doctrine lies at the heart of what he's encouraging them to do, what they're to do, how they are to act. And what's more practical than that, right? Here we see that all of this is rooted in the great reality of what God in Christ has done to save sinners. Sound doctrine animates sound living. And that's exactly what Paul wants us to take away from this section this morning. Sound doctrine animates sound living. So here's the text, verse 4 through 8a. Here's what it says. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us, not on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace, We would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement. Let's take a few minutes and walk through that beautiful statement line by line. The first clause there, when the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love for mankind appeared. This trustworthy statement begins by acknowledging the historicity of God entering creation in a way that was absolutely unique. God, our Savior, appeared in time and in space. As we think about today being the first Sunday in Advent, this is a perfectly, you know, surprise and expect to preach a Christmas sermon, but here it is. Okay, he was incarnate in time and in space. The Second London Confession of Faith says this, he took to himself man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet was without sin. Okay, he was true man, just like you and I, accepting sin. And by this appearing, we have come to know him as the God-man, Jesus Christ. More than 2,000 years ago, this man was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He was born and he made his dwelling among the people that he came to save. He was seen, he was touched, and heard by men just like you and me. He fed, he healed, he taught, he forgave sins, he was falsely accused, he was frequently misunderstood, and he suffered. He was loved by some and he was hated by most. He fulfilled the righteous requirement of God's law and no fault or no sin was found within him. He was and remains true God of true God and true man of true man. He was delivered over to the civil magistrates of his day and he was unjustly crucified to the point of death. A punishment, a punishment only fit for society's worst criminals. Now we know that this is not the end of the story. After he died, he was buried in an actual tomb, and on the third day, life was restored to him, and he rose bodily. And in his resurrection, in his resurrected appearing, he was seen, he was again seen, he was again touched, and he was again heard by men like you and me. After a period of 40 days, he ascended into heaven with a promise that he will return again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Now, we must not let it escape our notice that that this series of events, that they were historical events, they actually happened in history. Friends, the Christian faith is not a mere philosophy of life. It's not some superficial spirituality given to us by the spiritists of the ages. Our faith is rooted in that which is tangible, that which was seen, that which was touched, and that which was heard with actual eyes, fingers, and ears. The report of which is handed down to us through God's word, through Holy Scripture. And we see in this verse, the one there in Titus, that it was God's kindness and his love for mankind that this appearing was brought about. What fools would we be if we received not this great gift of kindness from our creator? What misery would be ours if we pass it up looking for a solution to our condition other than the one that God in Jesus Christ in the fullness of time has provided for us? Let's move on to the second clause there. He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness. He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness. This trustworthy statement continues by reminding us of the work that Jesus Christ came to accomplish. What do the works of His appearing, what do they mean? We recounted all the different things that Christ came and did, but what does it mean? This verse tells us He came to accomplish salvation for the people. He saved us. Saved us from what? From our sins and the penalty which our sins rightly deserve. This judgment, which should be ours, is a life that would be alienated from God and under His righteous and eternal condemnation. He saved us from eternal damnation and He saved us eternally for God. This salvation was wrought by the events that we just recounted as we considered the events of His appearing. Jesus Christ, the righteous one, in his death, bore sins on the cross as a substitute for those that he came to save. He was a suitable substitute because he had no sins of his own to pay, but instead received in his own body the divine judgment for sins that we have committed. It is in the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ where our salvation is really based. Paul goes on. It is not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness. If salvation was to based on our was to be based on our own righteous deeds, then Christ would be of no value to us, and he would have died needlessly. For even our most righteous deeds are marred and polluted by sin and really would amount to nothing more than filthy rags before a holy God. Now make no mistake, we are saved by righteous deeds, just not, as the apostle makes clear, on the basis of our deeds, our good works, but fully and finally on the righteous deeds of another, the Lord Jesus Christ. A righteousness which is counted to us on the basis of the deeds of the God-man, Jesus Christ, with whom we are united to by faith. So connecting this statement with the exhortation that we saw earlier in verse 2, a commentator I read by the name of George Knight, makes this really helpful point. Paul is telling the Christians that neither their present good works nor any pre-Christian efforts at good works are the basis for God's kindness and love toward them and for God saving them. The implication is clear. They must not wait until all people, the all people of verse two, have become Christians, or even until such people do some good work or something decent before they show them gentleness and kindness. For the simple reason that that's not how God has treated us, right? He didn't wait for us to start getting our act together and make some attempt at good works before he showed us his mercy and his kindness. No, he did it in spite of those things. And Paul is encouraging the church to follow in that example. The third clause, but according to his mercy, but according to his mercy. This trustworthy statement reminds us that in addition to the salvation that's being wrought by the love and the kindness of God, so too is it according to his mercy. If God were not merciful, towards sinners, then you and I would still be in our sins and under the just condemnation of a holy God. For to the one who is merciful, mercy moves them to respond with compassion instead of rendering what is properly due. This highlights for us just how undeserved this salvation truly is. It's truly a gift which is given to sinners, not according to divine obligation, as though it is somehow owed to us, but according to divine mercy. So understanding that our salvation is according to God's mercy should completely remove arrogance from those who are recipients of it. For all men stand in need of God's mercy. There are none who need more of it or less of it than others, at least from the perspective of God. We are all in need of mercy. And to receive it is to recognize that there is no grounds for arrogance towards those who have not received it. The fourth clause, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. This trustworthy statement reminds us that though salvation was accomplished by the appearing of Christ, it is applied and experienced by us individually at the moment, at the moment in time, by God, through the Holy Spirit, when we experience conversion. That's whenever we experience it. That's when it's applied. In this we see Father, Son and Holy Spirit working inseparably and separably to accomplish salvation for sinners. And this moment in time is really referred to as the moment of our regeneration. And it's a moment in time when that which was dead was made alive again, made spiritually alive, may even say was resurrected. And that which was dirty and sin was made clean by a complete and total washing. Isaiah 118, though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow. Okay, that moment when our sins are made white as snow is the moment that we are washed by the power of the Holy Spirit whenever we, when we turn to Christ. Paul makes a similar point in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 11. He says this, such were some of you, speaking of wicked men who do wicked things, such were some of you, but you were washed, But you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. So if this washing corresponds to the one time act of our generation, then we understand that the act of renewal corresponds to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit that we call our sanctification, an act where we are conformed more and more progressively right into the image of Christ, into the image of the one who saved us. Clause five, so that being justified by his grace, so that being justified by his grace. This statement reminds us that if we are justified by his, that we are justified by his grace. To be justified is an act whereby God declares us righteous. It's the simplest way to describe it. It's an act whereby God declares us righteous. And this declaration flows necessarily from the fact that in Christ our sins are paid for and washed away. And the obedience of Christ is credited to us as though we ourselves committed no sin and we ourselves fulfilled all righteousness. This is a tremendous gift to be justified that the sinlessness of Christ and also him fulfilling all the requirement of the law, that these things are credited to us and we are declared righteous. This is what Paul is wanting Titus to remind the church of. They are justified in the work of Christ. He goes on in clause six that we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life, that we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So not only are we justified in Christ, we become adopted children of God, heirs according to the hope of eternal life. By our union with Christ, we are brought into the family, so to speak. As adopted children, we inherit that which rightly belongs to the Son. And as such, we get to enjoy the liberties and the privileges of the children of God. Since we are children, we have bold access to the throne of grace. And as children, we will never be cast out by Him. But instead, we are filled with inexpressible and immovable hope. Hope. Now concerning this hope, the faith that we possess is not a faith which only looks backwards to what God in Christ has accomplished, but also one which trains us to see what God by his spirit is currently doing, and also what God will do. As we think about what lies ahead, we can be sure that just as surely as Christ came, so too will he come again. This is the time, this time he'll come with eternal joys and with satisfaction for those who eagerly wait for him. And herein lies the Christian's great hope. It's not a baseless hope, but it's a hope that's based on God who will complete exactly what he has promised to do. Now friends, I hope that you can see that really no trial in your life is able to take this great hope away from you. Though your body may waste away and though you suffer again and again. All of life's many disappointments, your hope is sure. And our faith trains us to live according to that which is ultimately true about us, which is eternal life with God in Christ. experienced partially, yet truly now at our regeneration, at our conversion, and to be experienced fully and truly in the life to come. To live as though this life is all that there is, and to live without hope for that which is to come is to be blind, it's to be short-sighted. Or maybe it reveals that the side of the story that you're living, it accords with the side of the unrighteous, those who are still in their sins, and those who are currently without hope and without God in the world. Better yet to have a hope, sure and grounded, not based on your own righteousness, but in the reality of another who is full of righteousness and full of mercy. The last clause, this is a trustworthy statement. This is a trustworthy statement. It's trustworthy in the merits of its claims. It's trustworthy in the beauty of what it reveals. And it's trustworthy in the one who gave it, who is none other than God himself. Base your entire life on it. Let it animate you from morning until night. And you're waking and then you're sleeping and you're going out and then you're coming in, in your life and in your death. It is a trustworthy statement. So as we come to our fourth instruction, number one, Paul encouraging Titus to remind them how to act, remind them who they were. Three, remind them who they are. This brings us to the fourth instruction. Remind them what to do. Remind them what to do. This is in verse eight, the second part, part B. Here's what it says, concerning these things, I want you to speak confidently so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are profitable for men. So here we come back to the purpose for which Paul was writing Titus regarding the church in Crete. So grounding his exhortation in sound doctrine, he writes this Titus speak confidently about these things so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. Our faith is not something which lives merely in our heads or even merely in our hearts. It expresses itself in good deeds in the world. Works which others can see, can touch, can hear. And in their seeing and touching and hearing them, it is our prayer that those who are outside of the redeemed people of God, that they do not see us, but they rather see, touch, and hear Him. the one who is before all things, and in whom all things are held together. And in seeing and touching and hearing him, they may become recipients of God's mercy and believe. Engage in good deeds, Paul writes, for these things are profitable for men. They're profitable for men. We may add, and the sound of them resounds through the eternal and immeasurable halls of heaven to the glory of God. So let's go ahead and bring things into a conclusion. And I want us to end this morning really where we began. It's important, church, that you remember. Remember how to act. Remember who you were. Remember what God in Christ has done. And in light of that, remember who you are. And finally, remember what you are to do. And in your remembering, be thankful. Be thankful, and in your thankfulness, do not be arrogant towards unbelievers. Instead, be ready and willing to serve them, and in your service, to point them to the one who is ultimately good. For you are no longer a natural-born child of hell, but rather you are an adopted child of heaven. That is now the truest thing about you. To live according to this great reality is to commit yourself to godly living and a life adorned full of good works. To him be the glory alone. Now to those who may have a difficult time being thankful for where your life has taken you, or maybe your thankfulness is really just tied up in temporary things. Just want to ask you, could it be that the story that the side of the story, the story of God's mercy, kindness and love as revealed in the gospel, that that's not the side of the story that you are currently participating in? Could it be that you are participating maybe even unknowingly until now on the side of the story which is resulting in your misery, misery now and also misery that that's going to come for all eternity? Unbelief lacks proper perspective. It's fixated on temporary things, not eternal things. And that which is temporary will always leave you disappointed eventually. The truth of the matter is that maybe your lack of gratitude may not be maybe flowing from an absence of faith in the one who made you and the one who gave his life to save you. You don't have a way to remember these glorious things because you don't know these glorious things. Trust in Christ, right? Trusting in Him is really the first step to knowing Him. And in knowing Him, remember what He has done, what He has promised to do. This is really the only way that all the events of your life, okay, that none of them will have been wasted. There are no wasted moments for God's people. For all of it, the good, the bad and the ugly can be truly and finally redeemed, providing you with endless resources to express Thanksgiving to God, your creator and savior. And to all I remind you, to be a Christian is to be thankful. No matter how difficult your circumstances may become, thankful no matter how difficult your circumstance may be today or may be tomorrow. Why? Because Christians understand that their life is in the hands of their loving Savior who appeared. Their life is ultimately secure. And as the circumstances of their life changes from bad to worse or from good to best or any other such combination, they have an awareness of his love and care for them, even in the midst of severe trials and disappointments. Even more than that, they have a hope which cannot and will not disappoint, or they will surely see Christ just as he is. And in seeing him, they will be finally made like him. So I invite you all to come, to come and to remember with me. In our remembering, let us all be thankful. Let's pray together. Father, we are thankful this morning. We're thankful, Lord, for what you have done on behalf of your people. We're thankful, Lord, for what you have done for your own glory. We are thankful, Lord, for your loving kindness, your mercy, and your grace to step in, Lord, as it were, To a world that isn't rebellion to you and father to take upon yourself sins wickedness evil father which which you which you justly punished And Lord, as we think about Christ and His coming and all the things that He accomplished, we look upon Him, the perfect God-man, we see what He suffered, and Lord, we come to know that He suffered, Lord, in our place. And for that, Lord, we are eternally grateful. So I pray this morning, Lord, as we think about just the ways that you've blessed us, as we think about family and meals and the Thanksgiving season, as we look, Lord, ahead to a celebration of your coming, of your first coming, the incarnation. Lord, I pray that our minds are quick to be reminded of these things, and our hearts will always be moved to be thankful. Pray these things in Christ's name, amen.