John, I'm going to ask you to turn there once again this morning. John chapter 6. Last time we were in the gospel, we considered, began to consider the Lord Jesus Christ as the true bread of heaven. And now we've got a little section right in the middle of that account. all about Jesus Christ walking on the water. Most scholars say that the Gospel of John was written last of all the four Gospels. I thought to myself, he probably had Matthew, Mark, and Luke at this point as he was crafting, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, his Gospel, and yet this section is the shortest of all the other gospels that refer to this particular account. And so I had a really bad thought as I was coming to this passage. I'm thinking I'm just going to kind of skip over it and get back to Jesus Christ as the true bread of heaven. And I really got rebuked in the study. And maybe that happens to you as you come up against a particular passage of God's word and it is so full of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And sometimes it happens that when a writer includes less about an account That is for a really, really good purpose. I should say that's always the case, and it certainly is the case here. John, under the inspiration of the Spirit, wants to highlight and emphasize some things in this account. So, we're going to read it, beginning at verse 16, down to verse 21. We'll pray, and then we will enter in. The Word of God, John chapter 6, beginning to read at verse 16. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But He said to them, It is I. Do not be afraid. Then they were glad to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. Amen. We thank God for his word. Let's pray one more time. Blessed Lord Jesus, exercise your reign through the preaching of your word this morning to good effect so that your brothers and sisters might love you more, be more like you, be more astounded at the salvation that we have in you, and so that sinners might find refuge in you. We ask these things in your name. Amen. Whenever I go on vacation, there has to be water nearby. I love, love, love the water. Love the sea. At the very same time, I have a very, very healthy respect for the sea. I'm a half-decent swimmer. I would even go so far as to say that it verges on terror. So I've got a love for the sea, but I've got a very, very healthy respect for the sea. I want to give you one illustration of this. Some of you that know that when Sonia and I go dating, we just go on a big date every once in a while, and we had the opportunity to travel north of Scotland to the Faroe Islands. It's a series of, I think, 18 islands. And back in that day, before they were tunneling all over the place to join the islands, the islands were joined by ferry. And most of those ferries could take a car on them, so you felt quite safe going from one major island to the next. Well, we wanted to go to the most westerly island, which is called Mycenae, from the main island of Vegar. And we got to the place where the ferry was to take off, and we got there, and there were all the docks and all the piers, and we're looking for this big honking ferry. And it is not there. And we begin to wander around a little bit and go out on one of the piers, and we look down and there's this little tiny fishing trawler. The only part of it that's covered is for the captain, and there is outdoor seating for the rest of the people. So we thought, huh. And then we noticed other people wanting to go to the same island that we wanted to go to, and we saw them all getting on wetsuits. And we thought, huh. And so we got on, and I'll say this, we were totally unprotected and unprepared. You can imagine what happened if you were on the North Atlantic. Those waves are huge. Even on a day that's relatively calm, and we were utterly soaked by the time we reached our destination. Unprotected and unprepared for the sea. Now I want you to be thinking about the sea and what the scripture says about the sea. The sea in our text is a sign. It points to something. It's a sign account that we have before us. The sea as a symbol is mentioned many, many times in the scriptures. Depending on the context, it can represent things like the tumult churning up of godless peoples. It can represent chaos. Or for our purposes this morning, it can represent judgment. The sea brings death. It is an overwhelming force to be reckoned with. And the only way an individual can reckon with it, be prepared for it, and be protected from it, is by being with Jesus. Being with the one who created it, being with the one who is above it, being with the one who controls it, and who is therefore the only one who can bring us through it. Consider what the Bible says about Almighty God and the sea. Who shut in the sea, says the Lord, with doors when it burst out from the womb? When I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it, and set bars and doors, and said, thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed. Job 38, verses 8 to 11. Or consider Psalm 29, verses 3 and 4, and 10 and 11. The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders the Lord over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The Lord sits enthroned over the flood. The Lord sits enthroned as King forever. May the Lord give strength to His people. May the Lord bless His people with peace. You cannot reckon with the sea all by yourself. There is one who can. He is over it. Are you in Him? Or, I could put it this way, is Jesus in your boat this morning? And if He is in your boat, rejoice that He's in your boat. Amen? Amen. We're in this gospel, this revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, all about who He is, all about what He came to do, that we as receivers of this gospel might believe, and that by believing we might have life in His name. It's written for non-believers that you might come to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is written for us as believers that we might enter more fully into the life to which we have been saved. Eternal life means life with God, relationship with Him. You recall, in the Gospel of John, there's a couple of parts, and we're in part number one, where we have this narrative of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's framed around seven miracles, or seven signs, that Jesus Christ performed. And they are interesting in and of themselves. One writer said, don't just be caught up in the miracle. Remember that those works of Christ, they point to, help us anticipate, enhance our understanding of the greater work that Jesus Christ came to do, His work on the cross. So it's helpful to review them, because they all speak different aspects of the gospel. Sign number one, the water to wine, chapter 2, verses 1 to 11, we discovered there that the best blessing that comes to us in the gospel is God himself, a relationship with Jesus. Sign number two, the healing of the official's son in chapter four, verses 46 to 54, we came to the understanding that the life Jesus brings about, it depends not upon the quality of our faith, but on Jesus, the object of our faith. Moreover, the life Jesus brings about is done at a distance and it is immediate. Sign number three, the healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda, chapter 5, verses 1 to 47. We found out that Jesus reveals that his work is to bring about life, not only to the Jewish nation, but to a lost and dying world. He is the savior for all sinners. And He gives life and He has that life in Himself to give because He is God. And in the last sign that we looked at, sign number four, the feeding of the 5,000, we found out that Jesus is the true bread of heaven, and we found out in that that he fills his people to the full. Jesus satisfies us. We also found out that he is not wasted. He is going to fill all his people to the full. That was in the first 15 verses. Each miraculous sign, therefore, anticipates Christ's greatest work in the cross and also enhances our understanding of it. Now John the evangelist, the gospel writer, he's not done talking about Jesus Christ as the true bread of heaven. There's going to be a discussion that actually follows and is going to be picked up at verse 22 and run all the way to the end of the chapter, verse 59. But as two of the synoptic Gospels indicate, you'll find it in Matthew 14, 22 to 34, and in Mark 6, verses 45 to 52, Jesus' feeding of the 5,000 is closely connected in time to another sign, sign number five. Jesus walking on the water. Again, it's a brief account that we have here in John, but it is packed full of the gospel. And in case you are curious about what the other two signs are, there is a little bit of a debate about this. There seems to be unanimity among scholars about six of the signs, but not so much unanimity as to what the seventh is. So, Where I stand is sign number 6 is the healing of the man born blind. That comes in chapter 9 verses 1 to 41. And then sign number 7 is the raising of Lazarus from the dead in chapter 11 verses 1 to 44. And that would follow, if you've got the Christian Standard Bible, it's actually numbering the signs in the text, and I would follow their delineation. Although some would actually argue that Jesus' clearing of the temple is a sign, but I happen to disagree with that because I think the signs are actually miracles. In any case, it is an intramural debate. Now let me say this, having reviewed the signs. Whereas all the other signs seek to entice us to Christ by speaking to what he saves us to, heaven, life with him, this sign, I'm gonna put it this way, it seeks to terrify us to Christ by speaking to what he saves us from, hell and life apart from him. The other signs seek to entice us to Christ, speaking of what He saves us to. This sign seeks to terrify us to Christ by speaking to what He saves us from. Once upon a time you would hear people quip after they heard a sermon, well there is a fire and brimstone preacher. And I think that is enjoined in Scripture. There are times when we need to warn people to flee from the wrath to come. Hell is an awful place and it is forever. But I think we do that according to the weight that God assigns to each in His Word. We've got a perfect balance in there. So in some cases where we see Jesus enticing us to come to Him by the life that He gives, then we give it that weight. And in other times where we see Him giving the weight to fleeing the wrath to come, then we give it that weight. And so too in our gospel proclamation. Both of those things are there, and we need in our gospel proclamations to assign the weight that Scripture does to each. And you will come to that blessed weight as you read more and more the Scriptures, all of it, the whole counsel of God. And you'll find that weight automatically coming from you as you point Jesus to the Savior. Well, verse 16. After the feeding of the 5,000, we read a couple of lines. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Reading between the lines in John's Gospel, we discover that only the disciples went down to the sea, Only the disciples got into the boat and they headed for Capernaum. And if you're interested, that was about a distance of 10 kilometers, not very far at all. I wonder if there's something in that. This is just me speculating a little bit. This life is very, very short, very short. The judgment is right there. It's a very, very short distance of time. Maybe something in this short distance speaks to that, in this sign that points to the greater work that Jesus Christ would accomplish. Only 10 kilometers. Now reading from the Synoptic Gospels, we discover that Jesus actually instructed his disciples to go into the boat without him while he remained behind a prey. The reason that Jesus prays is that he's preparing himself, he's laying hold of divine power, spirit power, to prepare himself for what was to come in this very instance. So clearly this is a setup on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is setting them up big time. He's going to teach them something and teach us something about the sea and Him. He's going to teach them and us about judgment and Him and where it is safe. So first of all, point number one, we need to see the disciples' predicament before secondly, we see the disciples' divine preservation. The disciples' predicament, latter half of verse 17 down to verse 19. It was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. Always amazes me how much can be found in a few short verses. Let's just slow it down. Let's go in slow motion this morning. See? Judgment. The disciples in a boat without Jesus. It was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them. D. A. Carson writes, though doubtless true, it is symbol-laden. As in chapter 3 verse 2, later on in chapter 13 verse 30, the darkness of night and the absence of Jesus are powerfully linked. It's dark. They don't have Jesus in the boat. He had not yet come to them. You've got to picture that scene. The disciples are in a boat on the sea representing judgment. It's dark and they don't have Jesus with them in their boat. That is a problem. That is a life and death kind of problem. You need to allow the picture to speak to you this morning. Is Jesus in your boat? If he is, praise be to God. If he is not, you are in grave danger. Grave danger. Verse 18. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. As was fairly typical, a wind came off the land and churned up the sea, putting the lives of the disciples in imminent danger. Fairly typical. but under whose sovereign hand? Who stills the waves and the wind? Jesus. Who churns up the wind and the waves? Jesus. All things upheld by His power, we read in Scripture. I don't know if you've ever been on water where that has actually happened to you. I remember one occasion, and this happened rather artificially. My folks have had a cottage for 70 years up on a little lake called Shadow Lake, and there's several islands in the lake. One of them we have affectionately called Bear Butt Island because it's just solid granite with one pine tree growing out of it. I was about 17 years of age, and so I left in the canoe all by myself, no life jacket, nothing like that. Beautiful May day, Victoria Day weekend, water still very, very cold. And I went there and got a little bit of a suntan, and as I'm coming back, a motorboat comes by me within about 10 feet, ends up swamping my canoe in the middle of the lake. I was in big trouble. Big trouble. I was in imminent danger. I'm not going to tell you the rest of the story. You can assume that I'm okay because I'm actually here. I'll tell you this much. A Savior came and got me out of the water. And we find in life that such churning up of the wind and the waves happens often, doesn't it? God is speaking. He's speaking in those things, isn't He? Always speaking. Are we marking that he's speaking? Are we seeing them as purposeful evidence of the mercy of God that we might avoid a greater death, even an eternal death? The disciples once asked Jesus Christ a question. It's recorded in Luke chapter 13, and Jesus riffs on it. the Galileans' blood that Herod mixed with the sacrifices. Were those people worse people, more evil people than the rest of us? The people on whom the Tower of Siloam fell, those people worse than the rest of us? How does Jesus respond? Mark it. I tell you, unless you repent, and his answer is no, by the way, Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Jonathan Edwards preached a famous sermon almost 300 years ago, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. The bow of God's wrath is bent, he preached, and the arrow made ready on the string and justice bends the arrow at your heart and strains the bow and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God and that of an angry God without any promise or obligation at all that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Mark it. Mark it and flee to Jesus Christ before it's too late. We read in verse 19 next, they rode about three or four miles. In the Greek, it's actually termed differently, 25 or 30 stadia. A stadion was about, if you're imperial, 607 feet or 185 meters. They went 25 or 30 stadia. So not very far, they're right in the middle. Right in the middle of that journey. These fellows were experienced boatmen, but they're only halfway across the sea and they are struggling. Mark's gospel tells us, Jesus saw that they were making a headway painfully, for the wind was against them. Mark 6, 48. What's that a picture of? It's His judgment. They're in a boat without the Lord Jesus Christ. and they are making headway painfully. Human inability. We cannot get out of this situation ourselves, can we? Mark it again. Mark that scene, beloved. Any striving in our own strength to get safely to shore and avert the judgment and get safely to heaven is sure to fail. We need divine help. We need Jesus Christ. To quote Edwards from that famous sermon again, almost every natural man that hears of hell flatters himself that he shall escape it. He depends upon himself for his own security. He flatters himself in what he has done. and in what he is now doing or what he intends to do. Everyone lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell, but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment. He says within himself that he intends to take effectual care and to order matters so for himself as not to fail. That is so true. Is that you? You will not stand in the judgment if you have not Christ on your side. Just thinking about that thief on the cross. Thinking about an illustration that Alistair Begg gave about him. You think about his life, what he was involved in. He eventually dies. Today, you will be with me in paradise. Before that, Jesus says to him, and Baal kind of pictures him at the pearly gates. I don't know if St. Peter is there or not when we enter in. Why should we let you in? Jesus said, I could be here. I'm with him. That's all it takes to avert the judgment. It goes against the grain. We naturally think that we will stand in the judgment by the good works that we do. And it is not like that at all. The scripture says all our righteousness is as filthy rags. We need an alien righteousness. We also need our sins taken care of, removed from us as far as the east is from the west, buried in the deepest sea. And that can only come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We need divine help. The latter half of verse 19, actually the middle. I'm just going to take it slow. They're in the boat. The sea is churning up all over the place. They're not making any headway at all. And we're told they saw Jesus walking on the sea. We're not told that Jesus was walking by the sea on the shore. We're not told that Jesus was walking through the sea. We're told that Jesus is walking on the sea. What's the point? The point is that He's over the sea. It is under Him. What does the sign point to? He is over the judgment. It is under Him. We have just read in chapter 5, verse 22 and 29, He alone has authority to do what? Judge. And now they saw Jesus walking on the sea. Jesus has authority to mete out judgment. He has authority to save us from it. All of us will stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. Continuing on in verse 19, and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. And they were frightened. That's so interesting. We're not told they feared the wind and the waves here. We are told that they feared the One who was evidently above the wind and the waves, and the One who is now approaching them. The One who could put them under the waves. Jesus was right when he said, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10, 28, they rightly feared this Jesus. Do you rightly fear Him? Well, we've got the disciples' predicament. In darkness, under imminent threat of death, making no headway in themselves to get to shore, the judge approaching them, and they without a Savior. Now, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, can you remember back in your mind's eye to the time when you were without Christ? Does this account not cause you to praise God that Jesus is in your boat? I once was lost in darkest night, yet thought I knew the way. The sin that promised joy in life had led me to the grave. I had no hope that you would own a rebel to your will. And if you had not loved me first, I would refuse you still." That's our testimony. Our testimony is of these disciples in the boat without Jesus, heading for eternal damnation. But praise be to God. He reached down and He saved us. It's glorious. Point number two, the disciples' preservation. Verses 20-21, "...but he said to them..." So picture this scene. Jesus on the water speaking. It is I. Do not be afraid. Then they were glad to take him into the boat. And immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. Again, there is lots to be found in these two short verses. Slow motion. Verse 20. But he said to them, it is I. Do not be afraid. The disciples had spent a lot of time with Jesus to this point. whereby that simple identification should have done away with their fears. And it did. But there is more to Jesus' statement here than meets the eye. Literally, Jesus says to them, and listen to this, I am. Does that resonate? I am. Do not be afraid. Carson writes, the thoughtful reader who has read through the gospel two or three times ought to observe the number and varied forms of I am sayings and wonder if this occurrence in verse 20 may not be an anticipation of a clear self-disclosure of Jesus. We'll talk more about this, Lord willing, in a couple of weeks. To that end, the evangelist has contributed something by reducing the dialogue to the bare minimum. Effectively, Jesus says, God is here. You don't have to fear. I'm the one who's over the judgment. I'm the one who can save you from the judgment. You know, there are and have been many people in this world who speak into our boat saying, it is I, do not be afraid. But there is only one who can say in truth, it is I, do not be afraid. And not give false hope, and not give false assurance. The one over the coming judgment, the one who is God, the great I am. And brothers and sisters, as you consider the judgment, let us rest assured in the words of our Savior who says, I am. Do not be afraid. Don't you love their response? Then they were glad to take him into the boat. Some translations, a little bit weak. Take the NIV 1984. Then they were willing to take him into the boat. Not strong enough. Thilo, that's the Greek word, indicates not only willing something, but also pressing on into action. End quote. They gladly took Jesus in once He assured them that He would not turn them over and subdue them under the waves. So here's the application. Press into action. Do not delay. Gladly take Him into your boat for the sake of your immortal soul. Oh, I love verse 21, the second half. Never noticed it before, having read through this gospel so many times, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. Simply beautiful. I wonder what that was like experientially. They're still like three miles away, and immediately Now, before we get to that emphasis and what it means, let's see the emphasis of Matthew and Mark. It's all so beautiful. Matthew 14, 32, and when they, remember, Peter got down into the water, walked toward Jesus, began to sink because he began to look away. Jesus rescued him. They went back into the boat, and the wind ceased. Mark 6, 51, and he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased, and they were utterly astonished. So there's an application to be made from Matthew and Mark's gospel as we go through the trials in this life. And the application is this. What a blessing it is to have Jesus in our boats with us, no matter what we're going through. He's there with you. Dr. T.T. Shields, longtime pastor of Jarvis III Baptist Church, preached a famous sermon called, Other Little Ships Freighted with Comfort. And basically he said, what a blessing it is to have Jesus in our boat for the journey. He preaches, there are special advantages to those who sail in the ship with Jesus. There is someone in the ship with us who has command of the winds and the waves, and the ship in which the Lord sails always outrides the storm. So true. But that's not the emphasis of the evangelist. His emphasis is different. You'll recall this chapter is framed by the theme of Exodus in verse 4. You think about the story of Exodus. Remember how I told you to come to this account? Be thinking about rescue, be thinking about promised land, be thinking about bread from heaven, be thinking about being passed over, be thinking about all those things. The story of Exodus involves a save from component, which we have been considering, and a save to component. In the Exodus, what is the save to component? Saved from Egypt, delivered into the what? promised land. So in the previous signs, the evangelist was concerned to emphasize this save to component. And in this sign, we have seen the save from component, but the save to component is not left out. In fact, John wants to greatly assure us of the destination. And immediately, or at once, the boat was at the land to which they were going. I'm convinced, along with other commentators, that this was another miracle of God. Another miracle. They're home! Home! Home! Because they have Jesus. And you think about it. You think about what the Scripture says about our destination and the grammar and the tenses and the language that the inspired writers used to assure us that the destination is certain for those who have Jesus in the boat. And those whom He predestined, He also called. And those whom He called, He also justified. And those whom He justified, He will also glorify." Is that what it says? What does it say? He also glorified. Are you glorified here this morning? You're a Christian? Pass tense! hasn't happened yet, but such is the certainty of it that it's stated in the past tense that we might rejoice at our salvation and the certainty of it. It's not the only place. That was Romans 8, 30. Ephesians 2, 4-7, God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. And raised us up with him? and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus? I mean, I'm looking right here this morning and you're seated in wooden pews, some of you, and some in soft cushion pews. But this text says that we're seated with Him right now, in a sense, in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Immediately, or at once, the boat was at the land to which they were going. Your destination, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, is bedrock, certain you can never be lost. You will get home. Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters. They saw the deeds of the Lord, His wondrous works in the deep. For He commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven. They went down to the depths. Their courage melted away in their evil plight. They reeled and staggered like drunken men were at their wits' end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and He brought them to their desired haven." Psalm 107, beginning at verse 23. Probably an allusion to this psalm here in this sign. And there's a response that's called for in the psalm. Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man. Let them extol Him in the congregation of the people and praise Him in the assembly of the elders. The disciples' preservation. We've got a God who comes near to save. We've got a glad reception of Him and salvation from beginning to end. But as I ran, my hell-bound race, indifferent to the cost, you looked upon my helpless state and led me to the cross. And I beheld God's love displayed. You suffered in my place. You bore the wrath reserved for me. Now all I know is grace." They saw Jesus walking on the sea. What a miracle. What a sign. Let's wrap up. Predominantly, the account is included that we might gladly receive Christ into our boat and so escape the sea, the coming judgment, and marvel, if you're a believer, marvel for all eternity at our rescue from eternal death. But it might be wondered at this point, in case you miss my quotation of all I have is Christ, how is it at all possible that this actually happens? You've said that God is over the sea and that God can save us from it in His Christ. How is it possible, given that while God is merciful to sinners, He is also just and must punish sinners? He cannot forgive and forget. The answer to this speaks again to the wonder of the gospel. Listen to this. Thinking about sea, thinking about judgment, thinking about waters, thinking about why these waters do not come on us. They do not come on us because they came on Jesus. Looking at the Psalms Christologically again, this time Psalm 88, although Psalm 42 would have been good. Verses 14 to 17. Oh Lord, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me? Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your tears. I am helpless. Your wrath has swept over me. Your dreadful assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long. They close in on me together. Jesus, our lawgiver and our judge, subjected himself to the curse of the law and the penalty of the judgment due our sins that we might escape that judgment. Jesus permitted the sea of God's wrath and judgment to cover him so that we would not have to go through it. And that's amazing love. That's amazing rescue. That's an amazing gospel. You're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, your response is this, just worship him and love him all the more and tell other people about it. And again, if you're not a Christian yet, they did not yet have Jesus in the boat. Isn't there hope there? You do not yet have Jesus in the boat, but you still can because he has not come back yet and you're still drawing breath. Gladly receive him into your boat, and you will be saved. Amen. Let's pray. Why, why, why would you do this? Oh, the scriptures answer in a variety of different ways your glory, your great love for sinners. And we say, why me? Your grace. Oh, Heavenly Father, we thank you for such a rescue, a salvation that is from the first to the last. You are the Alpha and the Omega after all. Encourage the saints here. and sweetly force in the impenitent, we pray, to your kingdom. For your name's sake and for theirs, in Jesus' name, amen.