introduction and looked at uh... somewhat briefly at what paul was actually saying in the first three verses of uh... romans nine this morning i want to look at some certain deductions and some conclusions uh... that we can draw from his statement that he made here so what are some of the things found in the first three verses that we might learn and benefit from now i want to tell you if you go to uh... sermon audio or Google or somewhere and you type in sermons on Romans 9, you know what you're going to find? Predestination. That's pretty much it. That's what everybody wants to talk about when they get to Romans 9. There's a lot more stuff than that found in there, okay? So, we're going to look at the first three verses a little further. He says, I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh." So we looked at that last week and we saw that, uh, what he was actually saying there. So if you missed that, you can go back. I think Keith's got it on the sermon audio already. But what can we gain from this? What kind of deductions or conclusions can we gain from these first three verses? Well, firstly, we see that the gospel is something that divides and separates. Anybody familiar with that? Paul, who for the majority of his life prior to conversion was almost worshipped by his countrymen, is now hated to the core by these very same people. There is this foolish notion that Christianity should be something that does away with all the divisions and brings everybody together around the campfire singing Kumbaya, okay? Jesus warned us that such is not the case. He said, do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I come not to bring peace, but a sword to set a man against his father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. A man's enemies shall be in his own household. So the gospel divides people, causes extraordinary separation. Even among professed believers, there is much debate, and sometimes it is angry debate, about even the simplest of biblical facts. But the worst division comes from those who hate Jesus Christ. Again, Jesus warned us, a servant is not better than his master. If they hate me, how can you expect them not to hate you? So secondly, we see the profound character of the division. It's not that we, as we become Christians, take up some new idea or some new hope or anything like that that others have no interest in. Lots of things divide people in that way, but those are only superficial divisions. What we see here on the other hand is a deep and profound division. Something that puts people in two different categories. Something so divisive that the two sides can no longer understand one another. This is what happened to Paul and the Jews. Paul was a typical Jew. He was a typical Pharisee. He understood them. They understood him. They were one and the same. Then he became a Christian and then there was this great chasm that formed between the two. uh... they didn't understand him at all anymore and so that is why they treated him as they did that is one of the marks of true christianity the moment you become one uh... the world can no longer understand your position on anything even your nearest and dearest loved ones can no longer understand your position on anything Those who are not Christians are bewildered and upset by this. They can see that you now have something that means everything to you, and they don't understand it, they know nothing about it, and so their hatred will always come out. Belief in God is fine, nominal Sunday morning Christianity is fine, but a true follower of Christ that hates by comparison, as Jesus said, his father or mother or children or siblings or even his own life, when compared to his desire for Christ, that is something to be feared and thus to be loathed. The Jews could not understand how one of their own could esteem his position, his title, his status, his nationality, and even his own life as less than when compared to this new life that he had found. Thirdly, we see that true Christianity will not only separate us from our old relationships, but it will also bring us into new relationships. There was a time when Paul only had one sort of brethren, and that brotherhood was based on nationality, religion, and bloodline. But that is no longer true of him. Now as a Christian, he has new brethren, those that are in Christ Jesus. It doesn't matter if they be Jew or Gentile, or where they're from, or what their bloodline is. As long as they are in Christ, they are now his brothers. Not only brothers, but as he addresses them in most of his letters, beloved brothers. Paul now considers himself as a member of the family of God, rather than a member of an earthly nationalistic family. That's why he does not address the Jews as his brethren any longer. He refers to them as his kindred according to the flesh. Now, that is true for every one of us who is a Christian. This is what the gospel does to us inevitably. We still belong to certain natural orders, still belong to certain families, still belong to this nation. But we as Christians are also in this new nation, this kingdom of God, all of us related, all of us brothers and sisters with other brothers and sisters all over the world. And so, like Paul, our Christian brethren are the ones that are now the nearest and dearest to us, or should be. All others become kinsmen according to the flesh. This is one more way of testing ourselves. Men and women who have only an intellectual interest in Christianity do not feel this way, nor can they understand the way. But those who are truly regenerate recognize God's children always. and want to be with God's people above all else. We become aware that our true brethren are now those that are in Christ Jesus just as we are. That is the basis or the foundation of Paul's entire argument. But even though that be true of us, does not mean that we are no longer interested in our old relationships, just that this new one becomes predominant, it takes precedence. That is shown very clearly here as we see that Paul, even though he is in an entirely new position, he is still extremely concerned for his kinsmen according to the flesh. Even though they hate him, are constantly causing him problems, even beating him more than once, these three verses over and above everything else show us Paul's deep concern for his kinsmen. Far from being finished with them as they accuse him of, He has this great and anguished concern for them. And so the question arises, do we share the same concern? Do we have this same grief that Paul talks about here for those members of our own families or our own community or our own nation that are not Christians? Paul does. He devoted his life to proving it. This statement immediately following his treatise on praise and assurance of salvation And the love of God show us his heart for the lost. You know, he spent entirety of chapter eight praising God for his salvation. But all the while, there's this thing in the back of his mind, in his heart, that the people that he loves aren't there. So our takeaway from this is simply this. Do we have this concern and compassion such as Paul had? What is the value? Here's a good question for you. What is the value of all biblical knowledge unless it leads to this? If we do not have it, then we have failed, I believe, to realize the truth about salvation itself. And more than that, we have failed to realize the condition and the ultimate fate of all those that are lost. It was because Paul had such a depth of spiritual experience, because he was so enjoying the joy and the glory of salvation, and because he knew the fate of the unredeemed, that Paul had this great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart for his kinsmen according to the flesh. There is no better test of our spiritual state and condition than our zeal and concern for lost souls. The purpose of the Word is to bring forth fruit. There is no fruit greater than this, that surely we have a concern for those that are outside. The first fruit of the Spirit is love. What greater show of love could there be than that we offer a lost soul the only hope that any of us have? Offer them peace with God and this great salvation that we claim to enjoy ourselves. there is no value in any knowledge of the bible unless it leads to this kind of result if ever a man had a right to be contemptuous or annoyed or hurt by his fellow countryman it was paul he had every earthly right to condemn them for their blindness and yet there was not a trace of that to be found in him five times they gave him thirty nine lashes y'all are familiar with that right Forty was supposed to kill you. They stopped at 39. Five times they gave him 39 lashes. They were constantly thwarting him, constantly spreading lies about him. Never was a man other than Christ treated so badly by his own people. And yet what was his reaction? Not a hint of bitterness, just compassion and pity and sorrow over their ultimate position. In fact, that he tells them that he is ready to do anything he can in order to deliver them from their bondage and their blindness. So what is our response to those that are lost? We just dismiss them as hopeless, turn our backs on them, hope they don't move into our neighborhood, avoid them at all costs. That's the easy way out, is it not? So how does Paul manage to not choose the easy way out? By putting himself in their position. It is essential and imperative that we always remember that we were once in their position. And apart from the grace of God, we would still be there. So, moving on to verses four and five. He says, they are Israelites And to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs. And from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. So in the first three verses, we looked at Paul's expression of grief because of his fellow Jews. He now gives us this detailed reasoning for this unceasing anguish in his heart. And what we see here is that Paul's sentiments are not so much familial or even nationalistic, but rather these are particularly religious sentiments. And what makes him grieve as he does is his realization, as he points out to us here, is it is their unique relationship to God. So Paul at the time of his writing, this writing, was primarily and essentially a Christian and an apostle. That's the only thing he considered himself as. He had a profound understanding of God's ways with respect to men and the whole great purpose and plan of salvation. And as he has expounded that for eight chapters, that's what he did for eight chapters, there is this ache deep within him as he thinks about the condition of the Jews in light of everything that he has written thus far. and particularly in the light of God's purpose of salvation as it was worked out under the Old Testament dispensation. And so he finds himself in this state of perpetual and continual sorrow. And he shows us the unique privileges that they had always enjoyed because they were the people that they were. This is an important couple of verses in that understanding their meaning is essential to following Paul's arguments in this chapter and in those that follow. If we're not clear about what was true of these people, we will never be able to follow his detailed argument when we get to chapter 11. These are also important in that they actually give us a summary of the whole of the Old Testament, both its history and its teaching. Still more importantly, we see here how essential the Old Testament is if we are to have a true understanding of the New Testament. As it said, the old points to the new, and the new constantly points back to the old. So having said that, we're going to proceed with examining these statements made by Paul. And he begins with, they're Israelites. My kinsmen, according to the flesh, are Israelites." This is not an idle statement. Full translation would be, they are of such a character or quality to be Israelites. And then come the various descriptives in the list that he puts before us. And this is very important. Paul is out to show us this most inconceivable tragedy that Christ came unto His own and His own received Him not. So who were his own? It was the Israelites, okay? Note that he did not say Jews, he did not say Hebrews, which either might have been true as well, but he specifically refers to them as Israelites. So what is the difference? Well, the most common term is Jew. That's what we think of when we think of all, every, oh, broad picture, okay? Most often used to draw a distinction between Jew and Gentile. The Jew is generally the antithesis of Gentile. Means if you're not a Gentile, you're a Jew. That's what that means. Which we've already seen and will continue to see as we move forward. Second term is Hebrew. As Paul even referred to himself as a Hebrew of the Hebrews. This one is used to identify those people who spoke the Hebrew language. There were Jews in this time period who no longer spoke Hebrew. These Jews of the dispersion, as they are known, had long since left the land of Palestine and had mixed with other people groups and were no longer Hebrew-speaking people. They had adopted the Greek language or other languages and thus could no longer be called Hebrews, even though they were still Jews. We see an example of this in Acts, where, if you recall, There was some murmuring going on in the early church between the Grecians and the Hebrews due to their widows being neglected. Point being in that story is that both groups were Jews, but there was a distinction that was apparent between Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking Jews. So then you see the term Hebrew. When you see the term Hebrew, It generally means that they were those that still spoke that language. So then, why does Paul say here they are Israelites? Well, this is significant and in order to understand it we have to go all the way back to Genesis 32. I won't turn there, but you remember the story. A man by the name of Jacob wrestled with another man maybe an angel, maybe Jesus, until daybreak. And at that point, the man said, let me go, for daytime is here. And Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. So what was the blessing? Your name is no longer Jacob. It is what? Israel. Because as a prince you have power with God and with men and have prevailed. From that point he was known as Israel and Israelites are the descendants of Jacob. So what is the significance? He is one who had prevailed with God and with men and thus became a prince and an object of special attention on God's part. His descendants become God's chosen people and are given this name, Israelite, to show that they are God's covenant people. God is now in a new and unique relationship to them. They become a kind of theocracy, a people governed by God directly. And that was true of no other nation. You find this term constantly in the Old Testament and the New Testament. I also read that we as Christians now have become a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, a people for God's own peculiar possession. That is what it means. That is the essence of this term Israelite. They are a chosen generation, a peculiar possession. It is through these people now that God is going to do his great work of salvation. So Paul uses this term Israelite intentionally, and this word in itself sums up all the terms that are going to follow in these couple of verses, except the reference to Christ himself. But all these things that are true of these people are all the result of the fact that they have become Israelites. Now, do note that Paul uses the term here of the people as a whole. That is a common theme in scripture of statements made about the whole nation. Later on, we're going to find him saying that they are not all Israel that are of Israel, but here he is using it of them all. Then he narrows it down when he wants to talk in particular of the saved. They are the true Israel, but here it is a broad brush covering all that are the physical descendants of Jacob. who was called Israel. Yes, they are still Jews, but this term emphasizes their unique relationship to God as his people. He says, I will be their God and they will be my people, instead of them and them alone. As Amos puts it, you only have I known of all the nations of the earth. All that is in that one word, Israelite. Next term is the word adoption. Now, to them belong the adoption. We spent a whole lot of time in chapter 8 on adoption. The spirit of adoption, the redemption of our body, by which we cry, Abba, Father. So does adoption here not just mean exactly the same thing that we have already seen? The answer is a resounding no. It's not the same adoption. Why not? because in the eighth chapter he is talking about those who are truly the sons of god spiritually so they're led by the spirit he is including those who have become christians from amongst the jews and also the gentiles who have become christians he is talking about the true christian the one who was born again and he says that we have the spirit of adoption because of god has adopted us into his family that is already done Later he refers to the adoption that is yet to come, which is the redemption of our bodies. We saw all of that in chapter 8. Here we are told that these Israelites had the adoption, that it pertained or belonged to them. So the term is clearly not used in the same way as it is in chapter 8. Paul is saying that this is something that was true of the whole nation, of the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. So what is the reference? Exodus chapter 4 and verse 22, God speaking to Moses, he says, Then you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son. That is a statement about the whole nation. Deuteronomy 14 verses 1 and 2. You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Jeremiah 31 9 With weeping they shall come, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back. I will make them walk by brooks of water in a straight path, in which they shall not stumble. For I am a father to Israel. and he from is my firstborn same idea again and again was a eleven one when israel was a child i loved him and out of egypt i called my son the entire nation called out of egypt as god's son but all but two of the original nation what happened to them they died in the wilderness point being and all of those cases child is a reference to the whole nation compare all of that we saw to matthew chapter eight verses eleven and twelve yes i keep stepping all over cooper sermon series it seems like about a reference to my view every week since you started uh... okay i'd tell you Many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The sons of the kingdom are thrown out. God's true spiritual children will never be thrown out. But in this general use of this word adoption that Paul is using here, sons and children, there is the possibility of them being thrown out. So Paul is preparing us for what he is going to say. His argument will be that even though they are all, in a sense, Israelites, and even though they are all in the adoption, they nevertheless are not all Israel, which are of Israel. they're not truly adopted they're not all truly sons god placed this nation into the position of his son that was one of the privileges that was true of my kinsmen according to the flesh of our personal the same ones that are denying and read and rejecting the lord jesus christ god had not only given them hit this name establishing them as his own special people. He has dealt with them as children throughout the whole story that we read in the Old Testament. He has dealt with them as his children. So that is the meaning of the expression to them belong the adoption. So next term is the glory. So Paul is leading from one thing to the other to the next he says there is no israelites they've been put into this position of being a son not just the people that god governs not just a theocracy he narrows it down from the national idea to the family idea and then he comes to this next term the glory so what does that even mean that's bumble's favorite response to about everything i say what does that even mean It means that God has shown to these people something of himself and of his own glorious nature. They have seen a glimpse of the glory of God himself. Think about it, what they saw, the burning bush, the parting of the Red Sea, the cloud by day and the fire by night, and so much more. And all of these manifestations of God's glory The simple fact that they spent 40 years in the wilderness and they never went hungry and their shoes didn't wear out. No other nation ever had this. But God gave these glimpses of himself and of his own eternal being to these people. But look, says Paul, look at this tragedy. These are the people who are rejecting the Son of God. And yet they have had glimpses of the glory given to them, account after account of the tabernacle and the temple and the holy of holies and the mercy seat, all signifying God's presence among his people and his reminder that I will be to you a God and you shall be to me a people. The glory indeed. And yet in spite of all these great and high privileges, which had been theirs, Here, they are rejecting their Savior, their Messiah. And in their blindness, turning their backs on this great and glorious salvation. Next term is covenants. It's a term used over and over again in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. But what does it mean? Well, a covenant between two people is one thing. best defined as a relationship entered into between two people, a bargain for mutual profit or an engagement for mutual friendship. But we are dealing here with covenants between God and man, which is an entirely different thing altogether. So what then is a covenant? It is a sovereign act of God's grace in which he pledges himself to do something. It is a sovereign act of God's grace in which he pledges himself to do something. There is no instance in Scripture of God meeting with the people and as a result of much discussion, God and the people agreeing for their mutual benefit to do certain things. It does not work like that. Covenant in the Bible is always something that is entirely solely and only from God's side. moved by nothing in us at all but entirely by his own grace and his own eternal love comes to the people and he says I am going to do so-and-so and I pledge myself that I will do it. That is the meaning of this word covenant. So when Paul says here that the covenants pertain to these Israelites He is saying that God chose Israel and pledged himself to her in this sense, that she was going to be the nation that he was going to use as a channel to bring his great salvation to the human race. That is the covenant that God, in essence, made with the children of Israel. Now note that Paul uses the word covenants, plural, and he does that because the covenant, the covenant that God made with this nation was repeated several times. One covenant reiterated and repeated for the sake of clarity and particularly for the sake of eliciting a certain response from the people. So now that we have defined covenant, let's look at the specific covenant that Paul has in mind here. It is one covenant just reiterated and repeated and clarified. It begins Genesis chapter 6 in verse 18 prior to the flood He says but I will establish my covenant with you and You shall come into the ark you and your sons and your wife and your sons wives with you Then again after the flood it is reiterated in Genesis 9 8 through 11 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him the whole I established my covenant with you and your offspring after you And with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark, it is for every beast of the earth I establish my covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." Follow closely in verses 12 through 15, and God said, this is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations, I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the water shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. And then he says in verse 16, when the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. So that's the most important illustration of this whole idea of a covenant. That everything that we read, all that stuff that we read, everything that is said and done in that covenant, is god acting and promising without regard for what man may or may not do but it is the covenant made with abraham that is the significant one and the one that is most constantly repeated no wake up in the no way a covenant was just a general covenant noah's son shim was selected as the one through whom The covenant should be carried out, okay? So it is part of the Abrahamic covenant. It just goes back to Shem. But from the covenant made with Abraham, we find what may be called the true history of Israel. So, it begins in Genesis chapter 15. If you want to turn there, we're going to be going through the whole thing. So this Abrahamic covenant might be called the true history of Israel. Genesis chapter 15 and verse 18. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, to your offspring I give this land, from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the River Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. So that is the first part of the covenant made with Abraham and it refers to the land. But in Genesis 17-1, there is further clarification of the covenant. So turn over just about a page. Genesis 17.1, a couple pages. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly. Then Abram fell on his face and God said to him, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." So do you see the characteristics of this covenant? It starts out with, "...the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, And then it tells us what he said. There was no bargaining. There was no let's make a deal. This was God vowing as to what he was going to do. This is grace. This is sovereignty. And then the covenant continues a couple pages over. Genesis chapter 22. And verses 15 to 18. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. because you have obeyed my voice." So, this covenant, it's just a continuation, it's the same covenant. This covenant was repeated to Isaac and then to Jacob and the essence of the covenant is that from the seed of Abraham, as we saw as we worked our way through the fourth chapter of Romans, from the seed of Abraham a Savior is coming. That's the whole idea of this covenant. this is the great promise of salvation abraham will become a nation kings will come out of that nation and through this one nation that comes from him all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed a covenant made with abraham repeated to isaac and to jacob and then in exodus chapter two so we've got to go over a whole chapter now Exodus chapter 2 verses 23 through 25. So this covenant was made with Abraham, repeated to Isaac and to Jacob. And then some stuff happened. A whole bunch of stuff happened. And then in Exodus 2, 23 through 25, there were children of Israel that were in bondage. We know all about that, right? Enslaved by Egypt. And what happened? It says, During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery, and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God, and God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. So thus we come to the covenant as it was renewed and clarified to Moses. It's often called the Mosaic Covenant, but it is still the same fundamental covenant. We saw that God remembered his Abrahamic covenant, but in Exodus 3, 16, and 17, it becomes clear why it was renewed at this point. The children of Israel were about to begin a new chapter in their whole history. They were to be taken out of Egypt and out of its bondage, and they were to be taken to their promised land, flowing with milk and honey. And God, to reassure them and to remind them of His purpose in bringing them out, repeated His covenant, emphasizing certain parts of it. So in Exodus chapter 3, verses 16 and 17, so remember, still the same covenant. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, has appeared to me saying, I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey. It was because of his covenant that he did this. And then he told them what he was going to do with them. He opened their eyes to this new chapter. And at the same time, he reminded them, of course, of their obligations in light of all of this. And finally, Exodus chapter 6, verses 2 through 7. God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groanings of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say, therefore, to the people of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians." See that? Still the same covenant. This is the covenant I made with your fathers. God continually reminds them the covenant. One covenant. I'm now renewing it. I'm taking you into this new phase of this covenant. You have to understand this. So he gave them the Ten Commandments. And he said, now realize that you are my people. I am holy, therefore you must be holy. It is the same covenant that was made with Abraham. the failure to realize this was the whole misunderstanding of the children of israel and that was why they were rejecting christ god did not as the jews believed so the jews believed that god laid aside the covenant with abraham and brought in this new covenant of works and of the law he did not do that it was the same covenant The tragedy is that certain people still believe that God did just that. It has only and always been one covenant based on the promises of God and not on the efforts of men. And since we are out of time, we're going to continue with that thought on next week. Let's pray. Father God, I thank you so much. that you are faithful to your covenant that you've made with us, that you are going to bring us into our heavenly home. I thank you that your covenant with us started thousands of years ago, but you have worked it through perfectly and according to your will and to your plan. I thank you for Jesus, who was the one who gave up himself for us. Lord, I thank you for your word that reminds us of all that you have done on our behalf. Lord, be with us as we continue our service this morning, as we go through the remainder of this service. May everything said and done here be for your glory, and yours alone, Grass Knight.