Well, we're gonna be in Ephesians chapter one this morning. If you have your Bibles with you, I'd encourage you to open them to Ephesians chapter one. We're gonna read verses one through 14 here in just a moment. And I do bring greetings from Cranberry Baptist Church and from the Pawley family. I got a call from Florence Pawley yesterday morning and she said, when you get down there, you tell him I said hi and you tell Nancy I love her. And then she said, I guess you could tell James too if you want to. And then Pastor Pauly, Roger Pauly texted me this morning and said, so excited for you. Tell everybody we said hello. And Scott yesterday saw him. He said, tell everybody we said hello. And so this is a church that's cared about and loved by the people up at Cranberry. And we're thankful for you. Thankful for the ministry of James and Nancy Pauly. and their faithfulness over these years. And we've had the chance to cross paths a couple of times. And Brother James Paul has been up to preach up there at Cranberry and always enjoyed having him up there and get to know him a little bit. And then we got to spend a few days together down at the Southwide Conference. I was able to be your pastor's chauffeur for three days and drove him all over the place in the van. And we didn't get in any wrecks. We had some ice cream. It was good, but we didn't get in any wrecks. We had a good time down there. and the Lord bless. Ephesians chapter one, we'll begin reading in verse number one, Paul and the apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints, which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God, our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted into beloved, in whom ye have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded to us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, and whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the person's possession, unto the praise of His glory. You know, oftentimes when we talk about God's blessings in our life, we focus on physical blessings. I heard a preacher a moment ago talk about four or five people who are sick or in the hospital who need prayer. And, you know, we have a prayer list that's rather lengthy at our church as well of people in the hospital, people who are battling diseases and People who are shut-ins who can't be at church. And oftentimes when we think of blessings, we think of physical blessings like health and strength. Sometimes it's monetary things or possessions. You know, I think all of us can probably think back to a Christmas that stands out in our mind as one of our favorite Christmases and one of our favorite Christmas gifts. Honestly, the best gift I've ever been given on a Christmas or a birthday was the birthday when my wife told me that she was pregnant with our son. Now that's a pretty good birthday present, to find out that God has blessed you with a child. And we think of physical gifts often, but I want to draw your attention back to verse number three of the passage, and it says there, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. You know, God has been good to us, and God has blessed me physically. I don't have perfect health or perfect strength, but I have the ability to be here today, and I have the ability to speak, and I have the ability to see, and the ability to hear. I don't see as well as I used to. I don't hear as well as I used to, but I still have those abilities. I have some physical gifts that God has given me, and we have some things that God has blessed us with, a home over our head, a roof over our head, and clothes on our back, a vehicle to drive around. It's nice to have the physical blessings of God, but I'll tell you this, they pale in comparison to the spiritual blessings that we've received in Jesus Christ. And I don't know about you, I don't know if you have a favorite book of the Bible. How many of you have a favorite book of the Bible? A favorite book that really resonates with you? When I was young, it probably, if you would've asked me in high school, I probably would've said it was the book of Proverbs. My freshman year of college, I probably would've told you it was the book of James. During my young, early adulthood, I probably would have told you it was the book of Philippians, but I've come to this place in my mid-40s. My favorite book in the Bible, I think, is Ephesians. And I love the book of Ephesians. And here in this first chapter, the Apostle Paul, speaking to the church at Ephesus, is explaining to them all that they have received in Jesus Christ. And you know what? We're here meeting thousands of years later on the opposite side of the earth, But we, if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you can claim that you have received these same spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ. And so as we look at this passage this morning, I'd like to draw your attention first to verse number five. And we see that all of us who know Christ as our Savior have received the adoption of children, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. Now sometimes we get afraid of this word predestinated or this idea of predestination, but if I could share very briefly what the Bible teaches about predestination. God preordained the plan of salvation before the foundations of the earth. God planned that salvation would be through his son and his son alone. In addition to that, God also predestinated that all who would be saved would ultimately be conformed into the image of His Son. And here we see in this passage that having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. You know, we didn't get into the family of God by adoption. We were born into the family of God. We were brought into the family of God through regeneration. We are born again by trusting in Jesus Christ and his shed blood. And so why does it say here the adoption of sons? Well, in the Roman Empire, adoption was a common occurrence. But it was different than what we experience in our modern day. Today, most of the time when people adopt, they adopt infants or they try to adopt small children. But in Roman times, if a man was getting ready to pass off the scene and he did not have an heir to his inheritance, he would adopt somebody else, sometimes even an adult, sometimes even somebody older than him, and when that person was adopted, all of their debts were erased, they got a new name, and they got to enjoy the inheritance of the one who adopted them. Is that not the same thing that happened for us when we accepted Christ as our Savior? Our debts were erased because they were paid for on the cross. We got a new name, it's written down in glory. And we've received the inheritance that was afforded to us through Jesus Christ. Not only have we received the adoption of children, in verse number six, we see that we're accepted in the beloved. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Do you know one of the biggest cravings that humans have is a desire for acceptance. I taught junior high for 20 years. And you know what I saw every single day as I worked with seventh and eighth graders? I saw young people who were striving to be accepted by their peers. They wanted the approval of their peers. They wanted the approval of their teachers. They wanted the approval of their parents. They just wanted to feel accepted. How many of you ever played on an athletic team before? You've ever played on an athletic team when you were younger? Maybe you play now. I love playing sports. Pastor Pauly said that our son Landon likes playing basketball and he does well out there on the court. And I like playing basketball, baseball, soccer, football, anything that had a ball or even a puck when I was growing up. And one year in baseball, our team did better than they normally did. And we started to succeed that season. And we went and we played in the regionals, and we won our region. We went and played in the semi-state. We won semi-state. We went and played state. We won state. And then we went and played sectionals against all the other states around us. We played Wisconsin, and Iowa, and Michigan, and Illinois, and Ohio, all these other states around us in the Midwest. And we won that tournament. And we went to the World Series. And we played against Puerto Rico and Canada. And I loved it. I enjoyed it. I was a starting shortstop on the team. I usually batted somewhere between three and five in the order, depending on how I was hitting. But by the time we got to the World Series and we played on television that night, every day when I showed up to the park, you know what I was looking at? The lineup card. I had been in a slump. I hadn't been hitting the ball very well. I was hitting the ball well in regionals and semi-state and state, but in the last couple tournaments, I was not hitting the ball very well. I had been in a slump, and so every day when I showed up, I checked that lineup card. Why? Because I wanted to see if I was in the lineup. I wanted to know if I was playing that day. Can I show you something from the scripture here? Look back at verse number one with me, if you would. What are the last three words of verse number one? In Christ Jesus. You look at verse number three, in Christ. Verse four has the words in him. Verse 10 has the words in Christ and in him. You come down to chapter two, and when we get to chapter two, you look at verse number six, the last three words once again, in Christ Jesus. Verse number 10, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Verse number 13, but now in Christ Jesus. Verse 21 says, in whom. Verse 22 says, in whom. When you got saved, there's no question about whether or not you're in the beloved. There's no question about whether or not you've been accepted by God. There's no question about whether or not you're part of the family. There are no second class Christians. When you got saved, you are in Christ. What a wonderful truth that is. This world may not accept us, but I'll tell you, it really doesn't matter much because there's one who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and the day you called on his son as your savior, he accepted you in the beloved. And so we see here in this passage, our spiritual blessings, the adoption of children, we see that we're accepted in the beloved. Next, we see that we're redeemed and forgiven. Aren't you thankful for that? Verse number seven, in whom we have redemption. What does that word redemption mean? It means to be purchased or to be bought back. I think of that little boy, there's a story of a little boy, he had this boat that he built. I don't know if he was taking a woodworking class or he learned some things from his father, but he got some materials together and he fashioned himself a little boat and he was so excited and so proud of his little boat when he was finished with it. He went down to the river and he started to play with his boat in the river, but he turned away for just a moment when he heard a noise and that boat started to go with the current down the river. Oh man, he was so distraught. He walked up and down the river all day long looking for his boat. He was so discouraged. He spent so much time on that boat. He loved that little boat. He lost the boat and he could not find the boat. And he went home downtrodden that evening when it started to get dark. A couple of days later, he's walking through town. As he's walking through town, he walked past the shop and in the window there was his little boat. He went inside to the store owner, he said, sir, sir, that's my boat in your window. That's my boat in your window. I lost it just the other day. Can I have my boat back? And the man says, son, I'm sorry, somebody else brought it in. It's for sale now. If you want it, you're gonna have to purchase it. The little guy ran home and he got in his piggy bank and he started to get together all the money he could find. And when he got together all his money, he went back to the store and he purchased that boat. And when he walked away from the store, he had a smile grinning from ear to ear. And he was so happy to have his boat back. And he looked at his boat and he said, I created you and now I've bought you. Is that not what God did for you? He's our creator. but he's also our savior. And he purchased us with the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And we've received redemption. The verse goes on to say, not only have we received redemption, we've received forgiveness of sins in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. according to the riches of his grace. In case there's any confusion about salvation, this verse states it very clearly. Salvation is through the blood of Christ and Christ alone. It is through his shed blood and the payment that he made on the cross that we get forgiveness of sins. It's not by our works, it's according to the riches of his grace. And God gives us forgiveness of sins. I wonder, have you ever had a hard time offering forgiveness to somebody else? Honestly, in this life, we suffer some real hurts and discouragements and disappointments, don't we? And it's interesting because when preachers get up and preach what the Bible says, that we're to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us, Oftentimes the response is, but you don't know what they did, or you don't know what I've been through. And honestly, sometimes it can be hard for us to come to the place in our life to obey what the scripture says, to forgive others for what they've done to us. But I'll tell you this, I've had some people who've disappointed me in life. I've had some discouragements that I've faced. I've had some times where I felt like I was mistreated. But never has anybody done to me what my sins did to Jesus Christ. And yet he's chosen to forgive me. Would you hold your place here in Ephesians 1 and turn to Psalm 103 with me, please? Psalm 103 in your Bibles. We're gonna read verses 1 through 4 And then we'll jump around the passage just a little bit. Psalm 103, verse one. This is the Psalm of David. He starts off by saying, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. Would you look at verse eight? The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins. Aren't you thankful for that? We complain a lot in this life about things not being fair. Can I be honest with you? I'm glad that things aren't fair because if I got what I would deserve, I deserve to be separated from God in a place called hell for all of eternity. That's what I deserve. For the wages of sin is death. What I have earned is separation from God and the wrath of God. But I am not appointed to wrath because Jesus already suffered that wrath on the cross. And I do not get what I deserve. I get what I don't deserve. That's called grace. And so we see here in this passage that we have not received what we deserve. Look at verse number 17 with me. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. Let me ask you this question. When does God's forgiveness run out? It doesn't. When does his mercy run out? It doesn't. His mercies are new every morning. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children's children. Turn to Isaiah chapter 38 with me if you would. We'll go back to Ephesians 1 here in just a moment. Isaiah 38 and verse number 17. This is actually the testimony of Hezekiah when God healed him and he recovered from his sickness. In verse number 17, Hezekiah says, Behold, for peace I had great bitterness. But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. Aren't you glad that God has scattered your sins as far as the east is from the west, that your sins are cast behind his back to be remembered no more? Aren't you glad that God's forgiveness does not run out? So we see we've received the adoption of children, we're accepted and beloved, we're redeemed and forgiven. Verse 11 in Ephesians chapter one says, we've obtained an inheritance. We've obtained an inheritance. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Romans 8, verses 16 and 17, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, states, the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. And we see here in this passage, we see the spiritual blessings that we've received in Christ. But can I go on a step further as we get down to verses 13 and 14 and talk to you this morning about the security that we have as well in the salvation that we've received, that our salvation is sure. Our salvation is sure. As we look at verse number 13, I won't belabor it. I know this is a Sunday school hour, and I know as well that I've also alluded to this in the earlier verses, but in verse 13, we see the plan of salvation. In whom ye also trusted. In whom ye also trusted. Salvation doesn't come by my works. I'm glad about that, because I could not do enough good works to earn my way to heaven. for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All of us fall short of God's perfect and holy standard. And no matter what works we do, we could not earn forgiveness. We could not pay the debt of our sins. And I'm glad that we don't have to pay the debt. It was paid when Jesus died on the cross. He became sin for us. And what a wonderful truth that is. But in this verse, we see that salvation is not in doing works, It's not in joining a church. It's not in being baptized. It's not even in memorizing verses. The first two words of the verse say, in whom. Salvation is in a person. It's in the person of Jesus Christ. It comes by grace through faith in whom ye also trusted. So here in this passage, we see the plan of salvation. We see the person of salvation. We see the process of salvation. It speaks of the Holy Spirit. John 16, 7 and 8 says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when He has come, He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit that we were called to the Savior. We were convicted of our sin. We were convinced of His love. And so we see the work of the Holy Spirit here. We see the word received, in whom He also trusted. After that, ye heard the word of truth. Ye heard the word of truth. It is through hearing the gospel that people have an opportunity to be saved. We'll speak of this a little bit more in the hour to come. But once we are saved, we are left here for a purpose. The church was given a mission, were we not? The church was given a mission, not just to be a social club, not just to come together and encourage one another, and I believe that's biblical. We should edify one another. We should encourage one another. We should exhort and admonish one another. God knew what he was doing when he designed the church. I believe that with all my heart. But one of the reasons that God designed the church was because he wanted us to be a lighthouse in this world and get the gospel to our community and around the world. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel is not a command for pastors, evangelists, and missionaries alone. It's not a command for deacons or even Sunday school teachers or church. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel is the mission of every single believer. Jesus left us here for a purpose and the purpose is to be salt and lights. We are to share the gospel everywhere we go. Now, some people would say, well, you know what, I just live, I just try to live as an example, I just try to live as a testimony, and I let that be my witness. Well, I'll tell you what, that's a good place to start. That's where everybody should start. Be thou an example of the believers. We should live as an example because our life should match our message. But it's not enough just to live as a testimony. We need to share the truth with our lips as well. Speaking the truth in love. Taking the right position, but doing it with the right disposition. Displaying the love of Christ with those around us. In fact, do you realize that the Bible says the way Jesus said that the way that other people would know that we're his disciples, is that they would see the love that we have one for another, that we would love one another as Christ also loved us. And so we should have a love one for another. We should live it and be the kind of example God wants us to be. But then we should speak the truth in love so that others can hear the gospel, hear the truth and know how to be saved. Aren't you glad that somebody shared the truth with you? Can you think back to the day that you got saved? I was a young boy in Lake Station, Indiana, in a children's class down in the basement of Liberty Baptist Church. Somebody got up and taught that I was a sinner, but that Jesus had died for my sins and that if I would place my faith and trust in Jesus Christ, he would save me from my sins. That night, I raised my hand that I'd like to make that decision. I was led into a room off to the side that I've been to a hundred times. And in there, a young teenage worker, a young teenage girl named Angela Reese, she took a Bible and she showed a little five-year-old boy how he could know Christ as his Savior. I wonder, when's the last time you've taken a Bible and tried to share with somebody how they could know Christ as their Savior? Had somebody not shared it with you, you wouldn't be here today in this church. Had somebody not shared it with you, your name would not be written down in the Lamb's Book of Life, would it? You wouldn't have a home in heaven. But somebody shared the word with you. And do you know what Christ calls each and every one of us to do? He calls us to share the word with somebody else as well. To share the gospel with those around us. We see the work of the Holy Spirit. We see the word received. We see the workers that are needed. He said, after that ye heard. We already addressed that. But I like this as well. We see our guarantee here in this passage. Our guarantee. In other words, our salvation is eternal. Hebrews 5.5 says, see also Christ glorified not himself to be made in high priest, but he that said unto him, thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. Now let me ask you this question. How long is eternal? It's forever. It's an adjective. You realize that? How many of you like grammar? Nobody, okay. I got four hands in here, four people. I taught grammar for 20 years. I was not the favorite teacher in grammar. They liked me in history class. They liked me in Bible class. They liked me in PE class. They didn't like me in grammar class. They didn't want to learn about nouns and adjectives and adverbs and everything else. I see this guy smiling like right here. Do you like English class? No, yeah, I figured. I figured as much. Eternal is an adjective. What does an adjective do? It modifies a noun, it describes a noun. The noun that's being described by eternal is the word salvation. So in other words, that modifier, that descriptor of salvation is that our salvation is eternal. Okay, you already said eternal lasts for how long? Forever, so let me ask you this question. How long does your salvation last? Until you mess it up? till you blow it. The Bible says your salvation lasts forever. It's an eternal salvation. 1 John 5, 11 and 12, this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in his son. He that hath the son hath life and he that hath not the son of God hath not life. Our salvation is not only eternal, our salvation is sure. 1 John 5, 13, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. Have you ever witnessed to somebody before and talked to them about salvation and they said, well, I don't think you could actually know that. I think that's presumptuous. We just gotta leave that in God's hands. I've had those conversations before. And you know, my first thought is, that's not biblical. because the Bible says I can have a no-so salvation, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. I struggle with doubts about my salvation as a young person. I told you about the day I got saved, but I'll tell you what. Oh man, I was such a bad kid. My mom did not have to convince me I was a sinner. I knew I was a sinner, and she did everything she could to convince me to, okay? I was paying for my sins every single day. When I got home, she said, go to your room. I'll be in there in just a minute. All right, I paid for my sins at school and the principal's office. I paid for my sins at home. But I'll tell you what, nobody had to convince me I was a sinner. And so a lot of times I would doubt my salvation. And I knew what it meant to be saved. I knew what I had to do be saved. There were a lot of times in junior church, I just bow my head right there and I pray to get saved, just in case, in case I didn't mean it last time, you know, in case I didn't get the first time. I didn't think I had to be saved over and over again. I just wanted to make sure I had it, you know. And I struggled with doubts, and then there was a young preacher one day, preaching at Crown College, and I was studying for the ministry, and still struggling with doubts about my salvation. The guy preaching, I think his name was something like Scott Paulie. And it was that day that I realized I had been fretting about the words I used, and salvation is not about me using the perfect words. Salvation is about me trusting God at His word. And you know what, I don't have to doubt it anymore, I can know it. Because I received Christ as my Savior and He that hath the Son hath life. We see our guarantee here in this passage. Our guarantee is the Holy Spirit says we're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And we're running out of time in here. Pastor Paul, you talked a lot at the beginning, didn't give me, no, I'm just joking. Getting a little long-winded here and running out of time, so I'm gonna keep going, but he sealed us. What does that mean? I used to not understand it. I think I understand it better than I used to. Sealing in the Bible suggests a finished transaction or authentication. Have you ever wondered why we have the phrase signed, sealed, delivered? Have you ever thought about that? There was a time when a transaction was made, a contract was drawn up, they would bring the two parties together, the two parties would be witnesses and would sign the contract, and then they would take wax and they would seal it, and that's what made it official before it was delivered to the two parties. And it authenticated the message. A sealing suggests a finished transaction or an authentication. Sealing suggests ownership. A sealing suggests security. Can I give you this one illustration and then we'll be done here this morning? Do you remember the story when Esther went to her husband, the king, and said that Haman had come up with a wicked plot and that he was going to kill all of the Jews and that her husband, the king, he had signed that into law and that the law of the Medes and the Persians could not be broken because it had been sealed by the signet of the king. And do you realize that once King Ahasuerus sealed that document, not even the king himself could go back and change it? Do you realize we find the same thing in the story of Daniel on the lion's den? Those other princes, they were presidents, they were jealous of Daniel and they come up with this plot that you can't bow down and worship or pray to anybody else but the king for 30 days. And Daniel, of course, being a man of character and a man who's gonna worship God and obey what he believes to be right, he goes in as a man of integrity and he prays to God again three times, as was his custom, three times a day. And they take him before the king and they say, king, did you not sign this? Did you not put your seal upon this? This law cannot be broken." Do you realize the rest of that day, the king, he was distressed. He was in great grief. He was upset about what he had done. He realized he had been duped. And so for the rest of that day, until it got dark out, they had to execute the judgment by that evening, but until it got dark out, he looked at everything he could to try to overturn the law. He's the king, why can't he overturn it? Because once it was sealed, not even the king could overturn it. And do you realize when you were sealed by the Holy Spirit, not only are you in the hand of Jesus, not only are you in the hand of God and no man can pluck you out, not only did Jesus promise, I will in no wise cast thee out, but the Bible says you are sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. You have your mark of God upon you. You are kept by the Holy Spirit and there is nothing anybody can do to separate you from the love of God. It goes on to say that he's our earnest. He's our down payment. He's our guarantee. In the New Testament, the word earnest is used only of that which is assured by God to believers. It's the ancient Greek word erhabon. Later on, it would be translated to erhabona. And do you know what the word erhabona or erhabon is used for? It means engagement ring. In other words, it's like the Holy Spirit is God's promise to us, he put his engagement ring upon us, and that bridegroom, one day, he's gonna return for his bride, that where he is, there we may be also. I'm gonna end with this. I know I said that three times, but this time I'm telling the truth. Look at verse number six with me. And look at the verse phrase of verse number six. To the praise of the glory of His grace. Look at verse number 12, that we should be to the praise of His glory. Look at verse number 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. You might be here this morning and you say, why in the world did you preach on that passage? You got a bunch of Christians in the room together and all you did was talk about how great our salvation is. Number one, we should never get over how great our salvation is. Number two, we should be sharing that with other people around us. And number three, it should result in us being a people of praise. I'll tell you what, if I'm not careful, it's just as easy for complaints to come out of my mouth as praise. If I'm not careful, it's just as easy for criticism to come out of my mouth as praise. God's people shouldn't be a griping people. They shouldn't be a grumbling people. We shouldn't be a moping people. We should be people who have the joy of the Lord, who are going around praising God for what we have received in Jesus Christ. You know, other people around us should be like, man, there's something different about that guy. I'll tell you what, it seems like he never has a bad day. I know we have bad days, but I'll tell you what, even when you have a bad day, you have a good God. And we always have a reason to praise him. And everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. May Lord help us. I think, I'm a Baptist preacher, you can tell, because I can't bring this in for a landing, okay? I think one of the keys to the Apostle Paul's fruitfulness in ministry is that he never got over the fact that God saved him from his sins. He knew what he had done. He knew how he had persecuted the church. He knew how he had blasphemed the name of Jesus Christ. And he never got over the fact that God extended his grace to him. And it's my hope that I never get over it either. And it's my encouragement to you, don't ever get over it. Because it's what makes all the difference in our life. Father, we thank you so much for what we've received in Jesus Christ. You've blessed us so immensely. And quite frankly, we don't deserve the good that you've given to us. But we thank you for all the blessings that you bestowed upon us. We thank you for the salvation that you so freely offered through the shed blood of your son. We thank you that Jesus was willing to take our penalty on the cross so that we wouldn't have to be appointed to wrath. And Lord, we pray now that you would help us, Lord, to be living testimonies of your grace. Lord, everywhere we go, we would share the truth of your word. We would show it in our spirit and how we praise you with our lips and how we love one another. Lord, help us to be the testimonies you want us to be. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.